Ideas to spoil Mom’s this Mothers Day – Part 1

Posted on April 24, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

There are only so many fluffy slippers , hand creams or pajamas one mom can handle.

I’m a fairly new mom with only a few years of Mothers days under me and I have to be honest I love them…I love getting presents (who doesn’t?).

My favourite and most treasured gift is the priceless Macaroni bracelet I received from my little man in his first year at Nursery school.

So with Mothers Day 2014 approaching I need to find gift ideas to give the grannies.

Macaroon sent me their stunning Mothers Day Gift list and I’m in love ( meaning when I order aprons for the grannies I’d be adding an extra for me)

Visit their website: http://www.macaroon.co/macaroon/content/en/macaroon/mothers-day

My other favourite finds came from the online store – http://www.lovelettersstationery.co.za/A%20Personalised.html

I’m crazy about anything personalized so this is right up my alley.

I’m in love with the Personalized pencils ,Cork Memo Boards , Monogram Candles and lets not forget the awesome notepads.

Happy Shopping.

Enjoy!

This Easter, bake up a storm and WIN!

Posted on April 16, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

I’ve had my little chefs in the kitchen with me since they were 18 months old.We will be spending the afternoon baking ,ready to submit our entry for this Easter Win.

Good Luck!

Happy Easter and God Bless

Click below for all the submission details

http://www.picknpay.co.za/competitions/this-easter-bake-up-a-storm-and-win

SPAR – Real Deals,Real Savings a fantastic E-Magazine!

Posted on April 10, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

I’ve been itching to share my latest find with you all.

The SPAR Savour magazine.

A Digital Magazine beautifully layed out, with fantastic contributors for each edition, this magazine is interactive and will have you wanting to turn the pages in anticipation for what will come next.

http://sparsavourmagazine.co.za/issues/2014-04/#page1

After you go through April’s edition click below for past issues

http://sparsavourmagazine.co.za/past-editions.php

Enjoy!!

No Oven Cookies

Posted on April 9, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

These are the nicest and quickest cookies to make.

I first tasted these at the home of our dear family friends and devoured them.

Sue was nice enough to share the recipe with me.

We will be celebrating Easter away and I know the self catering establishment we staying in does not have an oven.

There are certain things you want on your Easter table and that’s nice desserts!

All I’ll be taking with me is my trusty Snackwich maker / Doughnut maker / Waffle Iron / Cupcake maker

This is a sweet snack made in minutes the recipe quick and easy.

Sue’s recipe asks to be baked in a Snackwich machine.However with ll these new makers around – you can decide what shape or size you want your cookie to be.

Click on recipe below:

No oven cookies

Easy Meal – Spaghetti Boere(wors)-Nyse

Posted on April 8, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

Most countries I know have some form of “sausage”The Portuguese and Spanish have chouriço (Portuguese) or Chorizo (Spanish), the Brits have their Pork Sausage and the South Africans have Boerewors.

The most traditional ways of eating Boerewors is at a barbeque (Braai).

My family and I have come across the most amazing Boerewors (especially if you have European lineage or really love garlic) – Its in “Little Mozambique” (What I call the area ) of Turffontein in JHB (down the road from the race course) , worth the drive – you and your family/guests will fall in love with this Boerewors (FYI this post isn’t sponsored by the butchery I just feel their Boerewors recipe is ama- zing!)

Lusa Butchery

153 Hay St TURFFONTEIN

011 683 1615

https://www.google.co.za/maps/place/Lusa+Butchery/@-26.241622,28.038826,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x57cd1367e68fef43?hl=en

From time to time its nice to have the taste of Boerewors without the Braai (barbeque) especially during the week when you don’t have the time to wait for hot coals or gas, that’s when I make my Spaghetti Boere(wors)-Nyse.

This is an ideal meal for the South Africans living overseas and wanting a taste of back home.

I call it my easy mid-week meal because it simply is!

Click on Recipe Below

Enjoy!

DIY Gift for Children (Great for Fine Motor Skills) – Incl Free Pattern Cards

Posted on March 26, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

GEOBOARD / PEGBOARD DIY

My little man brought home a Geo-board from school so we could up his fine motor skills….its amazing that in just a few days I’ve noticed improvement in both the Fine Motor Skills and Cognitive Skills.

It prompted me to make one for home…I turned to Pinterest for inspiration.

I went to my closest Building Supply store to get what I needed – I had to buy a whole board and had it cut to size.The board was so big I managed to have 8 squares and still have two massive size boards left over(Going to be used for a project I’m working in for the boys bedroom). This means I have 8 Pegboards I can make for the kids in our family.All the kids in our family ages range within months of each other so I’m pretty lucky that the Geoboard games are all same-age appropriate.

What I needed:

Pegboard – cut in a square ( your local Building Supply store can assist you with cutting them to the size you want – Builders Warehouse does this)
Nuts and bolts – I did mine 8 x 8 so I needed 64 Nuts and Bolts per board + x4 I used to give the board little legs (see pics below)
Rubber Bands or Colourful Hair Bands – I got a box of Rubber Bands from Westpack (Pick N Pay and Checkers also sell them)
White Spray Paint Primer (hardware store)
Bottle of Spray Paint – your choice – I painted mine yellow (Hardware store /Pick n Pay/ Checkers)
Cardboard – for the pattern cards

What I did:

Wipe pegboard with a damp cloth
Spray white primer onto the smooth side of the pegboard – allow to dry
Spray paint your colour of choice – allow to dry
Begin to place all the bolts and follow with the nuts
I printed all the pattern cards and had them cut and laminated (longer lasting)

Building the Geoboard was great exercise for my little boy as he helped screw in the nuts and bolts.

DOWNLOAD THE x28 FLASH CARDS I MADE BELOW:

Pattern Cards for GeoBoard

The alternative to the GeoBoard is the PegBoard and Pegs.

I found a packet of Plastic Pegs (see photo attached) at Westpack for R 25.00

So no nuts and bolts – just a good spray paint and you ready to go!

Enjoy!

Ana

Fab Finds – Winter 2014

Posted on March 24, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

I Love London weather.So much so that my wish list this season includes a pair of Red Hunter Boots.Whilst my Capetonians friends are lucky enough to put their Wellies to use with their wet Winter , Joburg tends to be cold and dry, however with all the rain we have had in the last 2 weeks I came across these fab Wellies for kids from Woolies for R 199.99.

Great fun to keep them busy indoors and then let them go out and SPLASH in the rain puddles.This would be a great gift alternative to Easter Chocolates.

http://www.woolworths.co.za/store/fragments/product-details/product-details-index.jsp?productId=502196986

For the moms – whatever your taste, a pair of Hunter Boots will look fab for those Winter walks in the veld or a picnic with the family.

http://www.hunterbootsa.co.za/

These are the ones on my list , I believe a special edition so I can live with the plain red Hunters.

Pics courtesy of:

Putting Socks on:The Easy way (Great for teaching Toddlers)

Posted on March 19, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

Wouldn’t it be great to save a few minutes during dress time in the mornings?…..Well anytime actually.

Like most households with kids – Mornings can be crazy!

I had to come up with a way to teach both my boys an easy and quick way to put on their socks as the old conventional way was to slow and complicated for little fingers.

I learnt this method in high school from my best-friend’s family (Thank you Lourinho’s) but never really used it until now and I’m so glad I do.

Watch the video and see how easy it is get the kids to put on their OWN socks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCCifqeldX4

How do I fold the socks so they are ready to be worn?……See video Below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1NwmbfcILk&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy!

Parents magazine gets a massive high five!

Posted on March 18, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

I am always on the parents.com website http://www.parents.com/ – a Well of parenting information.

So I was thrilled to see the review done by lovethatmax.com ,click on link below

Parents magazine makes special needs history.

This is my BIG thank you to Parents Magazine for making it known that children with barriers are gorgeous kids too.

Thank you for thinking about the parents who have children with barriers.

Scroll below for a few example of the Toy Suggestions on their site for Children with Barriers.

http://www.parents.com/fun/toys/kid-toys/toys-for-kids-with-special-needs/#page=40

My little boy reacts well to toys that have lights and, or sound .

We have a few of the toys above that we utilize daily and like children without barriers who learn through play so do children with barriers.

This is my beautiful Luca at Occupational Therapy(SI) in the Spandex Cocoon – That is the face of pure contentment and relaxation…He loves it!

For us moms in South Africa subscribe to the Parents Magazine Digital Edition – https://w1.buysub.com/pubs/MR/PDG/pdg_ipadfooterlink_onsite_mar2013.jsp?cds_page_id=158956&cds_mag_code=PDG&id=1395129847900&lsid=40770303115045353&vid=3&cds_response_key=I43D4LD69

Enjoy!

Ana

Easter 2014 – Free Printables

Posted on March 12, 2014 by anasilvasimoes

We live in the Southern hemisphere which means whilst my friends up North are welcoming the warmer months we are saying good-bye.So the Easter Spring Time themed tables and collections don’t really apply to us.
I didn’t want to do Autumn colours just yet.Thats when I came up with what I think is pretty universal ….so to speak…Neons!

How gorgeous are the NEON cupcakes – available at Pick N Pay stores??????

I love them

I created Gift Tags as well as Cupcake Toppers

Easter 2014 Tags and Easter 2014 Cupcakes Toppers

Easter Subway 2014 – YELLOW , Easter Subway 2014 – Pink , Easter Subway 2014 – GREEN

Enjoy!

Ana

my gifts from above

A great WordPress.com site

Ideas to spoil Mom’s this Mothers Day – Part 1

This Easter, bake up a storm and WIN!

http://www.picknpay.co.za/competitions/this-easter-bake-up-a-storm-and-win

SPAR – Real Deals,Real Savings a fantastic E-Magazine!

No Oven Cookies

Easy Meal – Spaghetti Boere(wors)-Nyse

Lusa Butchery

153 Hay St TURFFONTEIN

011 683 1615

DIY Gift for Children (Great for Fine Motor Skills) – Incl Free Pattern Cards

GEOBOARD / PEGBOARD DIY

DOWNLOAD THE x28 FLASH CARDS I MADE BELOW:

Pattern Cards for GeoBoard

Fab Finds – Winter 2014

Putting Socks on:The Easy way (Great for teaching Toddlers)

Parents magazine gets a massive high five!

Easter 2014 – Free Printables

Follow “my gifts from above”