Dr. Suess Week - Suess Snack Mix

It's been a while since I have blogged. There has been a lot going on in my life over the last few months and to be honest, my creativity has been in a little slump. However, this week all of my creative juices came back as my kids celebrated Dr. Suess week. Actually, at school they only celebrated on Friday for Dr. Suess' birthday, but at our house it started on Monday. My kids (and myself) have ALWAYS loved Dr. Suess. Actually, one of the first books that I bought for Mary Chandler when I was pregnant with her was The Cat in the Hat! So . . . in celebration of Dr. Suess we decided to get creative!

We decided that our family would present a gift to Jackson's 1st grade class in honor of Dr. Suess. The first thing on the agenda was a special "Suess Snack Mix." I researched online and found a few things (recipes), but not exactly what I was looking for . . . so, I came up with my own! I decided that I would write a poem that gave specific items from some of our favorite Suess books and I would find snacks to coordinate with those items. I would toss them all together and create a "Special Suess Snack Mix." The poem was typed up and taped onto the container. This is the poem:

Letters make words and
words make Suess books,
Which ones you ask?
Well, let’s take a look!

Brown Bar-Ba-Loot Bears and
White truffula fruit
Make for some very yummy “Lorax” loot!

“One Fish, Two Fish” swim about,
while “Horton’s Egg” tries to hatch out!

“If I Ran a Zoo” I would have animals galore with a large
“Cat in a Hat” and many, many more!

Enjoy your treat and smile as you eat,
and be glad in this snack that I forgot the “Duck Feet”!

(The letters were Alpha Bits . . . Bar-ba-loot bears were Chocolate Teddy Grahams . . . White truffula fruit were mini marshmallows . . . One fish, two fish were colorful goldfish crackers . . . Horton's Egg was mini Robin's egg candies . . . If I ran a zoo were animal crackers . . . Cat in the hat was mini graham crackers dipped in white and red candy melts)

Then, we wrapped up a new copy of "I wish that I had Duck Feet" to donate to the classroom library.

For an extra treat, we decided to make each person in the class their very own "Cat in the Hat" marshmallow pop. We took two marshmallows and dipped the ends in red candy melts. When they were almost dry, we put them on sucker sticks so that they looked like the hats. Next, we put them in clear candy bags and tied them up with coordinating ribbons.

Once we were done with all of our treats, we loaded them all up in a gift basket and headed to Mrs. Emerson's class to give them their gift!

Super Diddle and Doughnut Diddle

Once again, I ended up getting tied up with Christmas comings and goings and have not had a chance to update the blog. So here are the last few days of updates from Diddle!

On Monday, the kids woke up to a letter from SUPER DIDDLE! He said that he was digging around in Jackson's closet and found the perfect super hero house. He said that he has always enjoyed playing dress up and super hero is one of his favorite things to play. Diddle was very excited to play in Batman's Cave and he even made his own super hero mask and cape! His message to the kids was to always do good and fight evil. He told them to always speak nicely to one another and to always remember the golden rule.

On Tuesday morning, we were in a hotel in Chapel Hill, NC. Diddle came to visit us and was in a Santa hat in the hotel room. However, we left before we could take any photos of him. Oh well . . . he was due for a paparazzi break!

Today, Diddle was SUPER excited! While we were in Chapel Hill yesterday, we stopped at Krispy Kreme on Franklin Street and ordered up a dozen holiday doughnuts to bring home. We ended up with 4 in the box by the end of the night. PLUS, we shared a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut milk shake. Oh. My. Goodness. It was heaven in a clear cup. You just have no idea how crazy good this gazillion calorie treat was to me. It was totally worth the calories. If your local KK has these, run . . . don't walk . . . and get one. You will not regret it. I digress . . .

So, Diddle was super jealous of our doughnut find and he said that there was no way the he could eat an entire doughnut, so he decided to make mini elf sized doughnuts. He used Fruit Loop and dipped them in melted white chocolate and covered them with sprinkles and colored sugar! Voila- Elf Doughnuts! Hope he enjoys his as much as we enjoyed ours!

Diddle- Weekend Update!!!

So . . . the closer that we get to Christmas day, the busier I seem to get! Please forgive me for the lack of updates over the last few days. School parties, supper club, gift shopping, etc., etc. have kept me away from the computer. However, Diddle has been in full swing over the last few days, so here is his weekend update!

On Friday morning we found out that Diddle had a little run in with Mr. Grinch! Apparently, according to Diddle's note, when he got back from the North Pole, he saw Mr. Grinch trying to load up all of our gifts from under the tree into a bag! Diddle sprung into action to try and save all of the gifts by jumping on the Grinch. Unfortunately, the Grinch was bigger and stronger and he put Diddle in handcuffs and hung him upside down from our Christmas tree!!!

On Saturday morning, Diddle once again found himself at GaGa and PaPa's house. They live on a lake and Diddle said that seeing the lake made him think of one of his favorite hobbies- FISHING! Diddle said that he looked around the house and found all of the things that he needed to go fishing! He found a pole, a lure, some fishing line, and the perfect fishing hole! He said in his note that he wanted to remind Mary Chandler and Jackson that you always need to find time to have fun and relax! Hope Diddle caught some good ones!! Guessing he did not eat these for dinner!!

On Sunday morning, Diddle found himself in a new role - Indian Chief Diddle Wahoo! His note said that that he has always enjoyed playing dress up and one of his favorite things is playing Native American Dress Up! He found Mary Chandler's Cherokee project diorama in her room and decided that it would be fun to play the chief of the tribe! Diddle said that he loved to play and that there is a time for work and a time for play and he has been super excited to "play" at our house!

Diddle takes a ride on the Polar Express

Well, this morning at our house was full of excitement and giggles. Today is Polar Express day at school and the kids got to wear their pajamas, take blankets and pillows and stuffed animals. Diddle was very excited about this day as well! His note said that he was very excited about Polar Express day and he really wished that he could go to school with the kids and take part in the excitement. Diddle said that he had been talking each night at the North Pole with Twinkle, the elf that lives in Jackson's classroom at school, and he was very jealous because of all of the fun things that they have planned. He decided that since he could not go enjoy the fun at school that he would make his own Polar Express day here at our house! He pulled out all of the toy trains, found some hot chocolate, and even found his own bell. Diddle believes! All aboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diddle remembers the Reason

On day 18, we found Diddle holding baby Jesus from the nativity scene in the hallway. His note was a very important one today. It was reminding Mary Chandler and Jackson that even though we have been having lots of holiday fun, that it is always important to stop and remember why we celebrate. Diddle's note said that he borrowed Mary Chandler's bible to reread the most exciting story ever told, Luke 2: 1-20. He wanted to remind them that it is important to take a moment throughout all of the hustle and bustle of December to just stop and remember Him. To just stop and remember that the little baby in the manger is the reason for the season. I think that Diddle's message is important for everyone to remember . . . Happy Birthday, Jesus!!!

Diddle trapped in the wrap

Diddle found himself in a sticky situation on day 17. Apparently, he decided to be helpful and wanted to assist me with my Christmas wrapping. It ended up being an epic fail. Mary Chandler and Jackson found him tangled in paper, packing tape, and red curling ribbon! He said in his note that a long time ago when he was just a young 137 year old elf, that he worked for a few days in Santa's wrapping department. He said that he ended up getting fired from that job and after his failed wrapping attempt at our house, he totally understood why he was fired. He admitted that wrapping just was not his thing. He said that Santa was not mad at him because all Santa ever wants him to do is to try his best, even if it ends in a failed attempt. Then, he ended up telling the kids to always try their best! Thanks for the life lesson, Diddle!

Day 16- Diddle gives Kisses (ish)

On Day 16 Diddle decided to raid the kitchen cabinets and make some treats for the kids to take to school. He said in his note that he wanted to do something sweet for the kids and teachers in Mary Chandler and Jackson's class. Diddle said that he loved kids and if he could that he would give everyone of them a kiss! So, he did the next best thing and he made candy cane pretzel kisses for MC and Jack to take to school! The recipe is very tasty and is also very easy, so he would like to share it below.

* Diddle's Candy Cane Pretzel Kisses *

Take a cookie sheet or baking pan and spread out a layer of pretzels. Next, take candy cane Hershey kisses and place them on top of the pretzel. Put them in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 minutes. (Until the kisses look glossy) Remove them from the oven and place another pretzel on top. Put in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until they harden and voila- Kisses for everyone!!!

Also, he explained why there was no note yesterday. He said that he had spent all night parachuting from the top of the stairs down to the bottom, but during one of his flights, the heat kicked on and one of the vents shifted his path and he landed on the ceiling fan and got stuck! That is why he didn't leave a note, because he could not get down!!!