Printable Door Sign: Yes, We Can Play/Sorry We Can't Play

We live in an awesome neighborhood.  I love our neighborhood.  There is a good mix of young, middle, and older families, people are so kind and friendly, and there are so many kids in the neighborhood to play with.  I love that we live on quiet street and I can send the kids out to ride their bikes or walk to the bus stop without worrying every second because even if I run into the house to get something, the neighbors watch out for my kids, too.  Everyone is out walking, playing, riding bikes all the time, and it's really idyllic. 

Because there are so many kids to play with, we get very frequent knocks on our door, at all times of the day.  And while I hate to turn the kids away when we can't play, sometimes we can't play.  But I also don't like discouraging the kids because the more they are told no, the less likely they are to come back when my kids can play. Shelli told me once about putting a stop sign on her door to let the neighborhood kids know when they can't play, so I decided to make one of my own. 

The stop sign for when kids are napping, we are eating dinner, the kids are doing their chores, or we are having family time. 

The go sign for when the kids are free to play. 

I printed the go sign on the back of the stop sign, then laminated it (with the nifty new laminating machine I got for Christmas!) and punched holes in it to hang on Command hooks.  The kids flip the sign when they get home from school, or when they finish their chores, etc.  I originally attached magnets to the first one I made, but my door ended up not being metal, so I used the hooks.  Also, we've had this sign hanging on our door for months now, way before I got my laminating machine.  I just slipped the page into a page protector and hung it from the holes on that.  When it gets windy it tends to blow off the door, so we've bent the hooks up a little to prevent that. 

I've gotten lots of compliments about our door sign for the neighborhood friends, so I thought I would make it available for all of you who might want it in easy-to-print format.  Click on the links below to download and print the PDF.  This is no professional piece of graphic design, keep that in mind.  If I was going to take my time to do it right it would not be pixelated at all, and the colors would be consistent and even, etc.  But I think it's better to actually get it up here than never do it because it isn't perfect.  Maybe one of my more design-talented friends would like the project.

Click here to download the stop sign

Click here to download the go sign

Tea Party

 The sick finally found our family.  We were so blessed to get through the holiday season without being sick (okay, Adam was really sick Christmas Eve and Day, but he is absolutely the easiest sick person ever, so it almost doesn't even count), Adam and I were terrified for school to start because we knew it was only a matter of time before we were finally infected with one of the various plagues that everyone seemed to have.  I literally didn't even know one person whose household didn't have some strain of yuckiness.  Besides ours. 

And, as expected, the kids were only in school for a week before it came home with Isaiah.  Luckily he seems to have his father's immune system so he was feeling better almost immediately.  But not before he passed it on.  First Max, then Lily, and now Katie have all had a fever, runny nose, and general awfulness. Just awful enough that we don't dare go anywhere for fear of infecting others, but not awful enough to not care about being cooped up without friends.  As our sweet neighbor Bridget said in reference to our "yes, we can play/sorry we can't play" sign on our door, "It's red light every day now!"  

So when we heard we were missing a tea party at Toddler Time last week, we were very disappointed. Anne and Porter were over (Porter is sick, too) and she mentioned that Porter hadn't ever had a tea party.   That did it, we had to have our own tea party!  So I threw together an impromptu "tea" (water) party with finger sandwiches (pb&j and cream cheese and jelly, cut with sandwich cutters) on the kids' plastic tea set and we practiced our very best manners. 

(Note: I am still practicing with my new camera lens.  These pictures are very blown out, so just keep in mind that I'm still figuring it all out.  It's tricky to shoot in front of a sunny window.  I tried to fix them in post, but realized I didn't shoot in RAW, so there wasn't much I could do.  Bah!  But I am really glad I've got pictures at all.)

Max was trying his best to be the "hostess with the mostest," and what he lacked in politeness he made up for in bossiness (and, to be fair, he was awesome at cleaning up Lily's spills).

"Would you like some more tea?"  "Oh, yes, please.  These sandwiches are divine!"  (Okay, no one used the word "divine" that I can remember, but this is the general gist of the conversation.) 

Such a dapper fellow, wearing his best tea party apparel

Hmmm...where did that "tea" go?  And why am I soaked?

Hard to tell because the picture is so blown out, but Katie was an excellent role model, being the most experienced tea partier, with her pinkie out. 

Porter's reaction to the whole affair was priceless, he was so excited and attentive.  And it really was impressive how the "please"s and "thank you"s carried over through the rest of the afternoon.  I'll have to remember to throw a tea party the next time the kids' manners are lacking!

Breakfast

Max calls cereal breakfast-actually "breakfisk."  We used to have the same problem when Katie was little.  What does this say about us?  That our kids equate breakfast with cereal and vice versa. I have really been trying to change this perception in recent months (or rather, I've been trying to improve the nutritional quality of our breakfasts, and by so doing, change my children's perception of breakfast), but it just isn't sticking.  I decided as I heard Max asking for more "breakfisk" this morning that it's really okay because it means I get to hear his sweet little-boy voice using little-boy words for a little longer, as he can pronounce cereal perfectly. 

Puzzling

This week while I was attempting to get some housework done, I pulled out a puzzle for Lily, hoping it would occupy her and possibly be educational at the same time (score one for Momma!).  Nope.  Still hanging onto my pant leg, crying.... Sigh.  But I was going to get the dishwasher unloaded at the very least, dangit, so I let her fuss for a minute and tried to finish.  I left the cupboard door open while I was putting away the kid dishes, and of course, Lily took advantage of that.  She loves to play with the sippy cups.  Normally she will bring me a cup and say "wa-wa," making the sign for "water."  Not because she wants a drink, mind you.  She's just informing me what goes in the cup.  (I still make that mistake about every other day, filling the cup for her, only to be rewarded with her throwing it across the room, then toddling off or begging to be picked up.) 

Whoops, off track...anyway....  This time she didn't come bring me a cup, she was busily matching lids to cups when I almost tripped over her to put away the bowls. 

(notice the puzzle, completely unloved?)

I almost missed that little ping inside my head, but I did get it.  I mean, really, here I was trying to force a contrived educational activity when something we do every day could serve the same purpose.  So I stopped what I was doing for a minute (really, 5 at the most), and pointed out the different colors of cups and lids and pulled out the camera. Look how intently she was working on her "puzzle." 

And what do you know, the traditional puzzle came in handy for something else!  She started picking up the pieces, making the animals' noises so I did all the noises with her, and then she came up with this perfect idea for practicing one-to-one correspondence:

And the dishes still got put away.  So there, score one for Momma after all! 

Busy

Sometimes all you need are some cardboard boxes, crayons, markers, and a little imagination...

And your belly button, I suppose:

Or not. 

Okay, okay, I'm putting the camera down...

Fresh Starts

A new year, a new camera lens, a new blog...

Happy New Year!  2012 is going to be great!

Heaven in a Cinnamon Roll

Okay, I know it's been a while, but I think you will forgive me for being away so long (and for all the things you've missed, like two big birthdays, but which I promise to catch you up on eventually) when you try this recipe.  Adam said it was the best cinnamon roll he's ever had, and that is super high praise coming from the cinnamon roll prince, son of the cinnamon roll king.

The majority of the credit for this recipe goes to Crystal Denton who gave a cinnamon roll demonstration at my ward's Super Saturday in September.  I used her recipe (and some of her tips) for the basis, although I changed a couple of things and halved the recipe and made my own filling and adapted a cream cheese frosting from an orange roll recipe I love...so, yeah.  I think I can call this one mine now.  I warn you, this is not healthy and should be avoided if you're trying to lose weight!  And it takes a while, this is no quick dessert.  But it is worth the time and the calories, if you have them to spare. 

Rachel's Cinnamon Rolls

Dough: 

1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 tbsp sugar (optional)

1 3/4 cups hot water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine or butter (I used butter)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg (The original recipe calls for one egg and I was halving the recipe, I would recommend separating the egg, but I had a helper, and we ended up with about half the egg in the bowl anyway!)

1/4 cup scalded milk

1/3 cup potato flakes

4-7 cups flour (Don't go by the measurement with this, go by the consistency of the dough, more or less as needed!)

Sprinkle the yeast into 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 15-20 minutes.  (A tablespoon of sugar in the yeast will help it proof quicker.)  Scald milk in a glass measuring cup in the microwave (30 seconds should do it), and add hot tap water to make 2 cups.  In mixing bowl combine milk mixture with salt, butter, sugar, egg, and potato flakes.  Add 2 cups of flour and blend thoroughly.  Add proofed yeast and blend.  Add remaining flour gradually until it cleans the edge of the bowl.  Dough should be very soft, much softer than you might usually let it be with bread, so if it isn't coming away from the bowl and it begins to get tough, stop adding flour!  Knead an additional 3 minutes.  Place dough in greased bowl and cover.  Let rise until doubled in size (an hour or so, depending on how warm your kitchen is).  

Filling:

2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 cup butter or margarine, softened (I used butter)

While dough is rising, cream filling ingredients together in a large bowl.  Grease two large jelly roll pans.  Punch dough down and roll out into a large rectangle.  Here's where I'm going to guess; I rolled mine out to about 12 inches by 24 inches, but I would recommend rolling it thinner, maybe 18 by 24?  Although our rolls were very huge, and very delicious. Spread filling over entire rectangle, leaving about one inch along a long side of the rectangle uncovered.  This is a lot of filling, expect it to make a giant mess of your pans, but we really like a gooey cinnamon roll at our house, so this is double what most recipes use.  Roll tightly into a log, leaving the bare end for last, and wetting it with your finger before pinching closed.  Use dental floss to cut 1 inch sections, placing rolls into prepared pans (you should get about 2 dozen rolls, unless yours are as large as ours, in which case you'll get 18).  Cover pans with a damp dish towel and allow to rise 25-35 minutes more.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake rolls 18-22 minutes (but check them at 15, they shouldn't be any more than a little golden around the edges!).  Bake one pan at a time, or if you must bake both at once, switch the top and bottom pans halfway through to make sure they are evenly cooked. 

Frosting: 

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened (I ran out of butter and used margarine)

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 cups powdered sugar (I always eyeball the sugar, adding more until I like the consistency)

While the rolls are baking, mix the frosting ingredients together with a hand mixer.  Spread on rolls while still warm, there should be enough to really pile it on. 

You're welcome.