Father's Day Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

{Father’s Day Recipe} Dutch Apple Dessert

June 2, 2013 By Deirdre

Most dads love dessert or least the dad at my house does. I decided to seek out a recipe that my guys could enjoy during their father/son evening last Friday and I could make a Father’s Day recipe that for my husband’s Father’s Day dinner. The dessert I was looking for needed spell out dad. I looked through all my recipe books and online to find the perfect one. Finally, I found a recipe for Dutch Apple Dessert on Snackpicks.com, that looked easy enough for JDaniel and me to put together. Did you notice that the D in Dutch, the A in apple, and the D in dessert spell dad?We had to head to the store before we started to get some of the ingredients. JDaniel and I had fun trying to find them. While I thought they would all be in the baking aisle, they were a few that were hard to find and were eventually found on other aisles. The lemon juice wasn’t with baking things for example. It was in the juice aisle sitting right next to the apple juice.

While gathering the ingredients was an adventure, making our D.A.D or Dutch Apple Dessert was really easy.

Wait! Let me give you the ingredients list before I share how we made it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of crushed graham crackers (JDaniel had a great time crushing them.)1/4 cup of melted margarine or butter (We used Smart Balance Spread.)

1 can ( 14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk

1 (8 oz.) container of sour cream

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1 (21 oz.) can of apple pie filling

1/4 cup of finely chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp. of cinnamon

Recipe Directions

Crush one sleeve of graham crackers using a food chopper. ( You can really chop them with any tool you like.)
Melt the margarine or butter or dairy spread in the microwave for 15 seconds.
Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted margarine.
Press the mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7 x 1/2 inch baking dish.
Mix the condensed milk, sour cream, and lemon juice together in a small bowl until thoroughly mixed.
Spread this mixture over the graham cracker crust. If there is any left in the bowl, you may want to sample it. It is really wonderful.
Spread almost all of the apple pie filling over the condensed milk mixture. Save just a little bit for your child to sample. JDaniel was really anxious to try just a little spoonful of the apple pie filling.
Sprinkle cinnamon over the apple pie filling and place chopped walnuts over the cinnamon. A little cinnamon can go a long way. If you are making this dessert with a child, you will want to supervise the adding of the cinnamon.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.

Father and Son Taste Test
After making this dessert, I went to a dinner hosted by the wonderful lady who leads my table group at our church’s Mentor Mom group. When I got home, half of the dessert was gone. I asked JDaniel about it the next day and he said that my husband had only had a little bit. JDaniel admitted that he had had most of it. Why? Dad is trying to be good about portion control and apparently JDaniel isn’t.I think that both guys really liked this Father’s Day recipe for Dutch Apple Dessert. It will mostly likely appear on my Father’s Day menu.

25 Children’s Books Featuring Dads

May 26, 2013 By Deirdre

With Father’s Day approaching quickly I thought you might enjoy a collection of books featuring dads. You may even decide that a special dad in your life might enjoy getting one of these books as a gift. There is something special about dads and their children reading a book. You may even want to give several of these books for children featuring dads to the dads in your life.

Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops by Jill Biden
A little girl seeks out things to do to show her dad that he is special while he is deployed.

My Dad by Anthony Brown
A little boy shares true facts about his dad and some fanciful ones.

Daddies Are for Catching Fireflies by Harriet Ziefert
This book shares great things dads do to show their children that they are special.

Because Your Daddy Loves You by Andrew Clements
A dad helps his child when small problems come up during their trip to the beach.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books) by Martin Waddell
A father bear works at helping his cub with his fears of the dark.

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
A father tries and tries to bring the moon back for his daughter, but it is a challenge.

Mitchell’s License (Mitchell Goes)by Hallie Durant
Mitchell may get to drive early, but he and his car disagree as to what fuel to put in the car.

The Emperor’s Egg: Read and Wonder by Martin Jenkins
This is a precious story of how a papa penguin takes care of his chick.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
A girl and her father head out to hunt for an owl in the moonlight.

Papa, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse
A Maasai warrior reassures his son that he will keep his son safe in this sweet book

Tyrannosaurus Dad by Liz Rosenberg
A dinosaur dad saves his son’s Field when he acts as the umpire. The other kids will listen to what this dad has to say.

My Father Knows the Names of Things by Jane Yolen
The dad in this book takes the time to share everything he knows about everything they run into in this wonderful story.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
A family heads out to find a bear and meets with several obstacles.

The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
A dad lovingly makes his child a very special apple pie.

Baby Dance by Ann Taylor
This wonderful poem shares the ways a dad plays with his baby. What joy this book is filled with!

Clever Daddy by Maddie Stewart
What do dads do to have fun with their little ones? This book will share the answer to that question with you.

Daddy Is a Doodlebug by Bruce Degan
A small bug shares how he had his dad have fun.

My Daddy and Me by Tina Macnaughton
When a little bear is with his dad he feels like he can do anything.

My Daddy is a Giant by Carl Norac
When your dad is a giant, he can do wonderful things like touch the clouds. Who wouldn’t want a dad that could do that?

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
A little bunny spends a busy day trying to find the words that will totally tell his dad how much he loves him.

Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
A hippo dad loves to show his son how to do new things like eat carrots and tie his shoes.

The Ten Best Things About My Dad by Christine Loomis
A little boy shares just what he thinks makes his dad special. This dad knows it is the little things that matter.

Piglet and Papa by Margaret Wild
When the piglet does something that upsets her dad, the other farm animals reassure her that he will always love her.

Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
Every Friday morning is special in this book. Friday mornings mean a special time with dad to eat breakfast and share.

Spot Loves His Daddy by Eric Hill
Spot loves many things, but one of the things he loves best is his dad.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Story Retelling – Finger Puppet Story Walking

May 24, 2013 By Deirdre

That’s My Daddy! out of the spring Tiger Tale Books collection I was sent to explore this week. It is a sweet book that shares the wonderful things that dads do for their children. They can reach high places, fix anything, are super strong, are not scared of the dark and so much more. This book is a fun read and is great for working on story retelling.

The book features an animal dad displaying the many things that dad can do. The animals the illustration chose for each attribute are really cute. A giraffe dad can reach high places. An owl dad isn’t afraid of the dark. A woodpecker dad is able to fix anything.

Before or after reading this charming book, you may want to picture-walk the book with them. There is a humor and fun elements in almost every picture.

What did we do after reading That’s My Daddy!?
Story Retelling- Finger Puppet Story Walking I made finger puppets that represented most of the dads featured in the book by cutting them freehand out of cardboard from cereal boxes. These are a type of puppet in that you stick your fingers through holes at the bottom of the puppet to make the puppet walk. Since seals don’t walk on feet, I cut a hole flipper hole in his side for JDaniel to stick a finger through. As we retold the story, JDaniel was asked to select whichever puppet he wanted. The same puppet could tell the whole story or the puppet that matched a particular page could be used.

He had fun selecting puppets to help him retell the story.

Here are some other puppets I think you will like for story retelling and pretend play:

Owl Hand Puppet

Five Little Turkey Stick Puppet

Yoda Paper Bag Puppet

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. I was given the book That’s My Daddy! to review by Tiger Tale Books.

Father’s Day Crafts- Walking In My Father’s Shoes

May 14, 2013 By Deirdre

Father’s Day is such a wonderful day to celebrate. I wanted to create a Father’s Day craft that would capture a memory and carry a message of how much JDaniel loves his dad. The idea I came up with was a craft I am calling Walking In My Father’s Shoes. We have created a few other Father’s Day crafts I will share with you at the end of this post.

When JDaniel was little he would put his little feet into him father’s shoes and stomp or shuffle around the house. He had to stomp or shuffle. My husband’s shoes were heavy and way to big for him. Yet he loved to slip his feet into them. There was something wonderful about putting on his dad shoes and trying to walk in them.

If JDaniel grew up to be like his father and chose to walk a path similar to him, I would be thrilled. They are very similar already due to DNA and life experience. Seeing JDaniel grow into even more of who his father is would be wonderful. (I am not saying he shouldn’t be his own person. Just that his dad has wonderful qualities.)

How did we make one of my favorite Father’s Day crafts?

We painted the bottom of an old pair of my husband’s sneakers with blue paint and carefully placed the shoe onto paper. We had to pressed the sole of the shoe from the inside to make as deep a print as he could. Rocking the shoe back and forth seemed to help.

Father's Day Crafts- Walking In My Father's Shoes

After the shoe print dried, I painted the bottom of JDaniel’s foot green. Then I helped him place his footprint on the paper.
The next step will be to print out the words Some Day I Want To Walk In Your Shoes on a larger piece of paper and put a frame around it. We haven’t done that yet so, I made a mock up on PicMonkey of what it will look like.

This simple Father’s Day craft would be so easy for you to put together. I bet you have child that loves to walk in his father’s shoes.

Here are some more Father’s Day crafts:

Amazing Out of This World Father’s Day Card

Star War Themed Light Up Father’s Day Card

“Best Dad I Ever Saw” Paper Plate Craft

“You Nailed It” Footprint Card

Father’s Day Breakfast- Cereal Tie

May 13, 2013 By Deirdre

I know it was just Mother’s Day yesterday and Father’s Day isn’t for awhile, but I have been trying to come up with a special Father’s Day breakfast. Last year JDaniel was taught how to make me a special breakfast fruit sundae. (Yes, we practice making it ahead of time.) I thought dad would like to have a special breakfast too. My husband gravitates to just cereal and coffee in the morning. JDaniel and I made his a fun cereal creation.
When I think of Father’s Day, I think of neckties. I am not sure why. My husband only wears one to church every now and then. I tried to put together breakfast cereal so it would like a tie in a shallow bowl. I thought he could just add a little milk to the bowl and have cereal for breakfast.After putting it together, I asked my husband what he thought and he said I needed to tell him what it was first. It looked obviously to me. Apparently, my husband didn’t. When I asked him why he didn’t see a tie, he said it was because the tie wasn’t long enough.

Well, I don’t think I can make a long tie in a shallow bowl. Maybe a platter would work, but then milk couldn’t be added to it.