Making Gingerbread Houses!

momstown Oshawa - Port Perry got together yesterday to make gingerbread houses! The kids were excited, and the moms were excited too! We got all the materials out and began the construction. They were looking fantastic, and although mom had to do most of this part, the kids were right in there, ready to help!

 

The instructions on the packaging suggested a wait time of approximately 30 minutes after building the house before decorating! But, we didn't wait at all! We didn't actually read this instruction until after the gingerbread houses were complete, but even if we had read it, can you imagine trying to tell a whole table full of preschoolers that they had to wait? Not after already tasting the yummy icing and candies! It would not have been an option! So we just went ahead and started adding the candy to the houses!

Everyone was working really hard!

The gingerbread houses were starting to look really great!

Until...they started falling apart! This is when the instructions were read! Who knew you needed instructions for gingerbread house building? Well, we hadn't waited for the icing to set before adding candy and so that could have been part of the problem, but the other part was that we didn't use Royal Icing to stick all of the walls together. We had decided to use regular icing because we had just used it a couple of days prior to construct a fantastic Rice Krispies Christmas Tree and it had held the Rice Krispies Tree together like glue! Again, maybe if we had just let it set, this would not have happened...

The little ones were upset at first, which of course is the worst! The last thing you want during a nice holiday tradition is tears! The tears never came though, the kid's all got over it quickly and decided to just go with it! There were a couple of houses still intact, but those that fell apart we simply improvised with!

The morning turned out to be great fun, with a lot of laughs! Memories were made and relationships were strengthened! Isn't that what the holidays are all about anyway? That's what momstown is about too!!!

After the Gingerbread Houses were finished being decorated, the children burnt off some of the their sugar high in the playroom while the moms enjoyed a nice hot cup of tea and shared a few more laughs!

For our next great adventure, that's not so much about the finished product, but more about the process and the memories created along the way, check out the momstown Oshawa - Port Perry calendar of events!

All That Glitters Christmas Party!

Saturday, December 11th, 2010 was momstown Oshawa - Port Perry's first annual Christmas Party! What a fantastic start to this new annual tradition! The party was open to all momstown Oshawa - Port Perry families, not just moms and kiddies! Dad's came out too! The event was held at Boston Pizza Oshawa where a special menu of All You Can Eat Pizza and Pop for $10 was offered! Rice Krispies also sponsored the event and so there were lots of yummy Rice Krispies square "presents" for the kids to snack on (although some couldn't help but snack on the Rice Krispies Christmas Tree as well). There was also a gift from Rice Krispies that was raffled off and won by one lucky mom who is sure to be baking up a storm with all the great items in the gift bag!

 As soon as the children arrived they went straight to work! They decorated cardboard gingerbread men with all sorts of creative materials including felt, sparkly beads, glitter glue, googly eyes, pom poms, stickers, foam shapes, sequins, ribbon, markers and more! They also made some more Glittery Snowflakes (as they had at our ornament making event earlier in the week) since they were such a hit the first time around! The children enjoyed them just as much this time! Also using the same idea as the Glittery Snowflakes, the children made Glittery Christmas Trees as well! Using a brown pipe cleaner as the trunk and bending it at the top to make a hook for hanging on the tree, these ornaments were easily made by using sparkly green pipe cleaner to wrap around the "trunk" to make the branches and then decorated with sparkly beads!

The children also had blocks and Christmas books available to them to play with on the floor to keep them busy!

As everyone gathered around to enjoy each others company, a very special guest arrived!

The children all took turns meeting Santa and telling him all about the things that they wished for, for Christmas!

Some children were a little too shy to sit on Santa's knee and so instead made it as close as they had to in order to receive their present! Even if Santa didn't get a hug or a high five, he still gave each child a brand new book wrapped up with a candy cane!

Then we had a special surprise visit from Boston Pizza's Lionel! Santa and Lionel gave each other a hug...

which was followed by some of the children giving hugs to Lionel...

and of course, more hugs for Santa!!!

Thanks again to Santa for taking time out of his hugely busy schedule to come see all the families of momstown Oshawa - Port Perry and for bringing all of the children presents!!! Also, to Boston Pizza Oshawa for providing us with a location and delicious Pizza lunch! And finally, to Rice Krispies for the tasty treats and special gift!

We were so thrilled with the excitement and fun surrounding our first Christmas Party! momstown Oshawa - Port Perry plans over 25 events per month to help get moms out of the house and meeting new moms, but it is always the bigger events like this that really bring families together! Thanks everyone for coming out and participating in this event! Hope to see you all again next year...and some new faces too!

Christmas Tree Ornament Making

Everyone loves homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments made by children! They are so sweet and give any Christmas tree a little extra love! momstown Oshawa - Port Perry children got busy at a full morning of ornament making. They made Silver Bells, Rudolph the Red Nose Candy Canes, and Glittery Snowflakes!

The Silver Bells were made by using the little cups of an egg carton, wrapping them in tin foil and then poking a hole in the top for a pipe cleaner to go through. Attach a little bell to the pipe cleaner and you've got a shiny little Christmas bell ornament for your tree that really jingles!

Next we made Rudolph Candy Canes. Start with a candy cane and wrap a brown pipe cleaner around the top and twist it so it stays put, then you can bend the pipe cleaners to make the antlers look just how you'd like them. Get a couple of googly eyes and stick them on the candy cane along with a red pom pom to make Rudolph's nose (an adult is required for this as you will need a glue gun to make the pom pom stick). Finally, tie a another pipe cleaner, or a pre-made little red bow, around the reindeer's neck and you are done!

Glittery Snowflakes were the final craft of the morning and likely the most enjoyed! We took a couple of glittery pipe cleaners and cut them in half so that they were not so long, tied three of the short pieces around each other at the middle to make a six pointed snowflake and then had the children put glittery beads onto the pipe cleaner. Children of all ages love this and it keeps them very busy as they pick out their favourite colour of beads and concentrate on their hand eye coordination getting them onto each point of the snowflake. A great craft for at home on a cold, snowed-in day!

 

For all those moms out there that were not able to join us on our Ornament Making morning, be sure to stop by the local dollar store and pick up a few supplies of your own! These ornaments will look great on your own tree and are perfect for attaching to a grandparent's gift! 

momstown Oshawa-Port Perry is always making fun crafts that are great for keeping preschoolers and toddlers busy. If you are already a member, that's perfect, sign up for the next crafting event on our calendar and you won't have to worry about thinking of a great developmentally appropriate craft or purchasing all the materials - momstown covers that for you - all you have to do is sign up and join in the fun!

Cookie Recipe Exchange

mmm.... It has to be one of the best things about the season! Christmas Baking is such a great tradition. It always reminds me of my childhood, and I love that I can now make wonderful childhood memories for my own children, or child as it is.

This Christmas season, momstown Oshawa - Port Perry thought it would be a good idea to get together for a morning with the kiddies and share some of our delicious treats with each other. We have all been super busy, as is everyone during this time of year, and so we decided not to do a full Cookie Exchange in the traditional sense where each attendee brings dozens of cookies (one for each of the other participants). No, instead we decided to each just bake one batch of our favorite holiday treat and bring it for everyone to share. We tasted several goodies and then simply exchanged our recipes!

There were several really, really good recipes! I wanted to post them all because a great recipe really should be shared. I've decided against it however, given that I too am very busy during this time of year and currently need to get back to the kitchen to bake up some more of these delicious new recipes that I've added to my collection. I will share just one with you though as it is very festive...

Candy Cane Fudge

2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
1 can (300 mL) sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (510 g) Pillsbury* Refrigerated Chocolate Chip or Chocolate Chunk Cookies, cut into small chunks
2 bags milk chocolate chips
3 tsp peppermint extract

• In 3-qt (3L) heavy saucepan, cook corn syrup, butter, salt and condensed milk over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until well blended. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in cookie dough chunks. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
• Stir in chocolate chips and peppermint extract until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Cook over low heat 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is shiny. Spread in ungreased 9x13-inch (22x33-cm) rectangular baking pan. Top with crushed candy cane.
• Refrigerate uncovered 2 hours or until firm.

Please enjoy as much as I have!  For more tasty recipes to use for your holiday baking and throughout the year, check out the momstown meals blog! And, definitely be sure to remember to sign up for the momstown Oshawa - Port Perry Cookie Recipe Exchange in 2011. Not only were new holiday treats tasted, but new friendships were built as well!