All That to Say: Life in the Ville

I remember when the boys were little, and I had quit my job to be a stay at home mom, that I had this insatiable need to be "productive."  I went from being a corporate executive to staying at home with toddlers.  Man, what a career shift!

Never in my wildest imagination would I have dreamed that I'd be at home again, raising toddlers.  But I'm so grateful to have this opportunity and this time to be at home with them.  I have, however, realized that my insatiable need to be "productive" is still present.  Sadly, my need to be productivie is limited to creative things and not "necessary" things like housekeeping or laundry! 

Anyway, this week, I wanted to do something fun with the girls that they could make and give to their teachers.  I searched Pinterest for hours, well, technically I got on Pinterest to find a cute project and was distracted by all the crockpot recipes I'll never cook, cupcakes recipes I shouldn't cook, cute outfits I could never wear, and workout regimens I will never attempt.  But then, SUDDENLY, I found a cute little fall trail mix recipe and decided that would be our project.

I assembled the ingredients:  (I'd like to begin with a warning that this is not a healthy snack. It's filled with things that came out of boxes and is likely to contain all sorts of deadly toxins like high fructose corn syrup and maybe even monosodium glutamate.)

1 Family Size box of Honey Nut Cheerios
2 Large bags of Mini Pretzels
1 Regular size box of Reeses Cereal
1 Large container of honey roasted peanuts
1 Large box of Cheez-Its
1 Large (party size) bag of Reeses Pieces (you could use M&M's)
1 Large box of raisins
1 Regular size bag of candy corn (mostly for color)

Then we dumped them all in a giant size boiling pot.  (Note:  You will not actually boil or cook this, it just makes A LOT and requires something very large to mix it in.)   In hindsight, I would have mixed it in a garbage bag (new, of course) because that's what I ended up doing in the end!  Again, this makes A LOT!

The girls particularly enjoyed this part as they could open the boxes and dump the ingredients in!

Then we used an ice scoop to scoop the ingredients into clear plastic party bags (available at Wal-Mart on the party aisle, 20 for $1.49) and tied them up with cute orange curling ribbon and a sweet "Happy Halloween" printable that I got here.  By the way, curling ribbon is so cheap, available at all party stores, and is great to have on hand in many colors!  I have a big box of spools of ribbon, so I'm pretty much set for most projects.

The girls discovered that if they spilled some on the floor, they could "pretend" to go throw them away and eat them on the way.  It took me a few minutes to discover their little trick!

Anyway, here is our finished project. 

You could still make these and use these printables instead. 

And of course, you could make a healthy version too.  Maybe my friend Meagan Peters will create one for you all!  If she does, I'll let you know!

All that to say, life here in the Ville, "Toddlerville" is fun some days (most days).


I love being a mom.  I am working on my need to be busy all the time, but at least other people benefit from my "productivity!"