Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Bringing Back Memories

Well it has rained 
and rained
oh and then it rained some more. 
We spent some time in what we like to call our troll closet.
That's our tornado spot.  Luckily it's close to our books so we had something fun to do.
But then for a whole 5 minutes the sun came out.
And I was able to stare in complete happiness at this.

 It was a FULL rainbow!
Actually a double but the second one was so light it didn't even show up in pictures.

But a couple days ago when we actually had half a day of sun we worked on our motor skills.
Always a good thing to work on.
When I was younger and we would go to visit my grandparents my grandpa would sometimes get out blocks of wood, hammers and nails and light us up.
And we would look something like this.
Who knew hitting a nail could be so much fun????
Well I did because it's one of the things I remember from my childhood.
(I remember surprisingly little about my childhood)
If your kids are younger or get frustrated easily
You might want to start the nails for them.
It might save you a lot of crying.
And a few other tips.
Smaller hammers are easier for smaller hands and
the softer the wood the better.
Braeden loves hammering into the stump and the nails go in really easy.
I'm gonna have to see if I can find any pictures of me doing this.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Pretzel Art

Whew has life been crazy lately.
Braeden's out of school
Baseball and Soccer are in full swing
and Mason decided to start crawling and pulling himself to stand in the same day!
I really should have babyproofed ahead of time.

But today we are trying to get into a new summer routine.
I'm going to try and do some kind of craft with the kids every day.
This craft is also a snack so awesome double duty!

I started by making pretzel dough in the bread maker.
But then I left the room to put Mason in bed
and came back to this...
So tip number one would be to not leave the flour on the table! lol
So after we had our pretzel dough ready we rolled it out into strips.

And then I let the kids get creative making the pretzels into any shape they wanted.
We ended up with snakes and flowers and balls and butterflies and so much more!
 They actually asked to make more dough when we finally ran out.
Now that's success.
Just brush with egg whites and water and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake then enjoy.


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Our New Pet

I love to watch my kids exploring things.
You know, when you can see the little wheels turning 
and the excitement when they find something new.
Well today my kids found a new pet.
Meet Caddy
Yeah he's kind of tiny.
I'm really not sure how Braeden found him 
but he did and they were best friends from the second they met.

He found him a leaf to camouflage him.

And a leaf for him to eat.
He's not in that picture so don't try to find him!
But I think he camouflaged him a little to well because he lost him.
Which was traumatic for about 2 minutes.
And then he was drawing pictures of birds.

Oh to be a child again.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Takin' Craft Time Outside

We have finally had a few nice days around here.
Sunny and Hot
A perfect turnaround from the gloominess we've had.
When it's nice outside my kids play ALL day.
I can hardly get them to come inside to eat or even pee.
So to throw off their routine a little bit I surprised them with a craft to do at their picnic table.
So what's the perfect craft to do outside?
Nature Collages
I gave them a basket to collect all their pieces of nature.


 Then they sat down at the table and glued them on cardstock.


 Even Mason explored Nature trying to eat the grass. lol
Super easy and cheap supplies.
Just make sure you let them know of any flowers you want off limits.
You don't want them picking all your pretty flowers.
Hope the weathers nice where you are so you can take craft time outside!

Last Day of School

Today is Braeden's last day of Preschool.
It's a little overwhelming to think this means Kindergarten is next
but I am sooo excited we made it through preschool.
(It was a REALLY rough start first half of the year.)
It's so amazing to see the change in him in such a short amount of time.
He really has grown a lot and learned so much
and I am so thankful to his teachers for all of their hard work.

So as a little thank you/end of the year gift I made them a little movie snack bucket.
I bought the popcorn that comes it the movie theater buckets, 2 boxes of theater candy and some soda.
I don't know about the teachers but my kids were in love with the idea.
So we will be having movie night sometime soon.

Here is what the buckets looked like 
and pictures of Braeden with his 2 favorite teachers.




Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours...

I'm talking about recipes people!
I've been working on my menu for the next 2 weeks and I'm feeling in a rut.
We seem to have the same thing over and over again.
Part of it is my fault.
I really only like to make things that I have the recipe memorized for.
Kinda puts a limit on things.
The other part would be my picky family's fault.
There is nothing worse than slaving away in the kitchen and then no one liking what you made.
And then you have to make them something else.
I make my kids try everything I make but if they don't like it I don't force them to eat it.
I don't like being forced to eat something I don't like so why should I force them.
Feel free to disagree but that's just how we do it here.

Anyway...
I have one recipe that we all LOVE so I wanted to share it with you 
But in return I'd love for you to share with me your families favorite meal.
I think that's only fair
Right???

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
1 lb. cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (I use canned chicken which makes this recipe a breeze)
16 oz. Frozen Mixed Vegetables, thawed
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1 egg
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Cup All Purpose Baking Mix

Make It
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cook cream cheese and broth in large saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently with whisk.
Stir in Chicken, vegetables and garlic salt.
Spoon into 9-inch pie plate.  Beat egg and milk in medium bowl with whisk until well blended; stir in baking mix just until moistened.  Spoon over chicken mixture.  Place pie plate on baking sheet.
Bake 25-30 min. or until golden brown.

And there you have it.
Quick, cheap, and easy on the taste buds.
Next time I make it I'll add a picture.
I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Glamin' Up The Hopscotch

My kids LOVE playing hopscotch.
And I must say I have quite a bit of fun with it too.
But today it needed a little something more.
So I glamed it up a little for Ava's liking.
Using one of her favorite things
HEARTS

You should have heard her squeal with excitement.
Instructions: Use hearts instead of squares.
Can't get any easier than that!

 Braeden was even brave enough to give it a try.
I'll have to use something a little more manly for him next time.

I hope you all can have a little blast from the past playing some hopscotch.
I know we enjoyed it!


Friday, May 6, 2011

Workin At The Car Wash...

 I want to start by saying I'm sorry for being a little spacey lately.
Reed went back to work this week and I kind of forgot how hard it is doing everything myself.
 I really was getting used to going to the store and taking Braeden to school without the kids.
 I'm trying to get back into the swing of things but it might take me a little while.

We have been living in some real gloom here lately.
Rain
Then a little more Rain 
And hey why not Rain a little more.
Well today there was 
SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!
So we had our annual kidmobile wash.
Every Spring we break out the sponges and rags and give our kidmobiles a good washin.
The kids have a blast and usually get a little wet.


Look how cute those bubbly hands and toes are.


So when the sun decides to come out again get outside and wash down those kidmobiles.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Versatile Blogger Award

The lovely lady over at Art 4 Little Hands gave Me an award!


I've kind of been dragging lately so it couldn't have come at a better time.
Thanks so much Laura!

Now this little thing comes with some rules.
1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them
2. Tell your readers seven things they don't know about you
3. Award 10 other bloggers
4. Contact the bloggers about their award!

7 Things You Don't Know About Me
1. My dream job is being a wedding planner.  Don't think that will ever happen but hey a girl can dream.
2. If I can't be a wedding planner I would like to be a photographer.  I'm working on this one.
3. When I got married I had been 19 for one week.
4. My Grandpa is my hero and has been since I was a little girl.  There's just something about that man.
5. I am NOT a morning person.
6. I'm not really a night person either.  I guess I'm a person who really likes to sleep.
7. I love dirt bikes.  If we ever have enough money to buy a toy, it will be a dirt bike.

So now that you know a little more about me here are the bloggers I'm awarding.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Happenings

Ok so this week is 
Teacher Appreciation Week
As much as I love Braeden's teachers we are not showing our appreciation just yet.
Don't worry, I will.
His last day of school is in two weeks so I'm just going to combine the two.
We did go ahead and make the card for his gift and if you're looking for a 
super easy
free
oh crap I forgot 
kinda card.  I'm here for you.

(Try to ignore the messy tablecloth)
It's a simple handprint flower. 
If you want to do a little more with it you could make a painted handprint.
I think it makes it a little more special if you let your kids do it completely on their own.
Then on the back we wrote
Thanks for having a HAND in my life.
I guess you could use this as a mother's day card too.

Now to change directions.
I just want to show you some pictures of my cute family I've taken lately.
I'm really working on my photography so if you know anything about photography and want to give me some pointers I would LOVE that.




I bought this tablecloth at Walmart today for $1.20!  It's actually folded in half and I think I'm going to go get another one.  Check out the Easter isle if you want one.
 It was really sunny and he kept covering up his face with his shirt. 
Now take a look at these yummy, chubby hands.  Ahh I love it!