On the Menu for the Week...

Thank goodness for Pinterest sometimes:o) I was in desperate need for some dinner ideas for this week, so I turned to the trusty old internet phee-nom:o)

I am really excited about these meals because they are super simple to make, and I am sure they will be a hit for the rest of my family:o) Plus, there will be minimal clean-up which is a HUGE bonus;o)

Here's what's cookin'...

Monday Night-Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Recipe from Chocolate Therapy 

Tuesday Night-Homemade Honey Baked Ham

Recipe from Frugal Upstate 

Wednesday Night-Ham and Cheese Sliders

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything 

Thursday Night(family night)-Mini Hamburgers

Recipe from Mommy Hates Cooking

Friday Night-Crockpot Orange Chicken

Recipe from The Pursuit of Happiness

We were busy all weekend working on the bonus room. I am working on the finishing touches for the kids play area. They LOVE it, and I can't wait to share pictures with you all. I hope that you are having a great start to week, and I'll see you back here in a day or two with the Kid's Play Space reveal!!

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Family Night-Shark Tale

It's Friday again, so I am sharing our Family Night theme with you all. Last night we watched Shark Tale.

I had originally intended for us to watch Big Miracle, (hence the whale themed family night)but apparently, there is a ton of language in it, so that was definitely a no-go....and it's rated PG...I don't get it:o/ Anyway, I had to find another movie to replace it, so we went with Shark Tale. I could still stick with my "fishy" theme:o)

For those of you who don't know what Shark Tale is or need a reminder, here is the trailer.

Every week I make a little sign for what we'll be having for dinner that night, and I try to make it match the theme. Last week I didn't get around to it, but this week I was on the ball:o)

I sent it in an email to the hubs so that he would know what to expect:o)

The food was pretty simple. It took a little more than 20 minutes to put everything together.

We had "fish & chips" which were Gortons Tilapia fish sticks & crinkle cut fries. I am not a fish fan, but since tilapia is such a mild fish, I was able to drown it in tartar sauce and it wasn't that bad:o)

I served the popcorn in these cute little cones. I found the idea HERE. I just googled whale art, and found this little cute guy. I used publisher and put the whale in the upper right hand corner of the page, tilted him a bit, printed, and rolled the paper into a cone shape. Easy Peasy:o)

For dessert, I purchased blue jello cups. You can find these in the refrigerated section in your grocery store. I used a little bit of whipped cream for the "foamy wave effect" and added a little red gummy fish in each bowl. It can't get any easier than that folks;o)

For the drinks, I bought blue kool-aid, and filled up these little clear plastic cups. We called this our "ocean water."

We had such a fun evening last night, and the movie was cute...there were definitely some laugh out loud moments:o)

I want to encourage you all to start taking time out every week to spend with your families. This took less time and preparation than most meals, and it's definitely more memorable.

For this free printable for your own family night, just click on the link below the picture.

HERE

Next week's theme will be:

The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's

Sharing this fun night at:
Design Dazzle

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Family Night-Despicable Me

 Almost every Thursday night we try to sit down as a family and watch a movie and eat lots of junk food. 

If possible, I try to have a theme where the food is concerned.

Since we were watching Despicable Me, I decided to try to make all of the food resemble minions.

When the movie first came out, S.R. referred to the minions as Tater Tots, so that was an absolute must for the menu.

 I found these cute little corn dogs at Publix, and thought they looked like little minions too.

 The minion Twinkies were the hit of the night. Can you tell which one was my first attempt;o)

I have seen these little guys all over the internet, but never took the time to find out how they were made. I did check for the list of ingredients, though. Through trial and mostly error, here is what I found out...

 *mini marshmallows, cut into thirds, are the easiest for the goggles, not the suggested SweeTarts.

*I used black gel icing, which I highly suggest against. It's way too runny.

 *It would have probably been easier if the Twinkies had been in the freezer a bit before icing them. That way the cake part wouldn't crumble as much. 

*On a positive note, the Betty Crocker pre-made blue icing was great to work with, and it tasted great! 

 I took very little time in putting these together, so they don't look all that fantastic. Thankfully the crowd was easy to please:o)

We had a fantastic night, and I am looking forward to many more family nights:o)

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Fun Ideas for the Kids

On Wednesday, we had another rainy day, so I thought I would do some creative things for the kids. I surprised them with this fun breakfast. I used a cookie cutter to cut the centers out of their toast & cooked a fried egg in the center...they were really unsure about the fried egg, and when E gagged after eating the yolk, I learned that next time I will at least scramble the egg before cooking:o) Regardless, it started the day off right(minus the gagging part).

 I made S.R. this little flash card set the other day as well. I had some laminating sheets, something I always try to have on hand, card stock, & flash cards printed from Homeschool Creations.

 I realized that she had forgotten what her letters looked like...bad mommy:o)

 I used the laminating sheets so that she could use a dry erase marker to work on it over and over again.

 I made them double sided to save space.

 Love that smile:o)

 And I love that I got her seal of approval:o)

We also made homemade pretzels....they were DELICIOUS.

 I had to do the prep-work an hour before, and then my little helpers shaped the pretzels. 

 Definite approval from my little helpers:o)

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Lazy Days of Summer

Good Tuesday to you all. We are having a great rainy summer afternoon. This is the first time I have felt semi-normal since last Thursday. I had to have two hernias repaired in my belly button, so I am slowly recovering. Today was the first time that the kids and I were home alone, so I needed to find things that wouldn't require any heavy lifting, and that would keep us busy.

Painting is always a good go-to for kids. And I haven't picked up a brush in quite some time.

This morning we worked our magic on some canvas.

 Here is a closer view of what I came up with...a little lamb..or sheep..whichever:o) He is perched upon the mantle for now. 

 After painting we made homemade ice cream in the living room with an ice cream ball. I was quite impressed with this little contraption. It actually works:o)

 You can find one of these Ice Cream Balls Here. We got lucky and found ours at a yard sale for $5...still in the box:o)

After naps, we went outside just before the rain came, and dug into our yummy afternoon snack.

 Smiles all around:o)

Just so you all know, I am jumping back on the crafting wagon again now that things have been forced to a snails pace...just the way I like it. We only have 6 weeks before school starts and I want to take advantage of the time I have with my kids and their creativity. So stay tuned for crafty kid fun:o)

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Owl Themed Baby Shower

Hey there! Long time no see:o) You would not believe how busy I have been these past few weeks. Ever since school let out, we have literally had almost every day filled with something to do or somewhere to go. I am exhausted just thinking about it:o) That has left little to no time to do any crafting...I have been so busy that I haven't even desired to do anything crafty...crazy, right?

So anyway, some of you know that I am in the local homemakers club, and we had our monthly meeting at our house last night. One of our members is expecting a baby in August, so we also had a baby shower..you know me..I jumped at the chance to have a special party:o)

The mommy-to-be is decorating her nursery in owls, and as we all know, owls are VERY popular right now, so there were a slew of ideas online to choose from.

Below is a picture of our food table.

The grandmother-to-be made this whimsical center piece...I LOVE hydrangeas:o)

 She also made this cute little fruit baby buggy..she said she found it on Pinterest.

I had some large old blue mason jars, and I filled them as full as I could with flowers. 

 This was one of my favorites of the shower...owl cupcakes:o) They were super easy to make, and would be great for any time of year. I used chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. The eyes are made from 2 Oreo cookies & Reese's pieces for the pupils and beak. The platters are just slices of a walnut tree trunk that I borrowed from a good friend.

 The gift table

 My first attempt at a diaper cake...not too shabby..;o)

When the ladies left, they got to take home one of these goody bags filled with chocolate and mints.

We had a wonderful time and the mommy-to-be left with tons of great gifts:o)

Where I found my goodies:

Large White paper lanterns: Oriental Trading Company

Flowers: Costco

Owl on Diaper Cake: Hobby Lobby

How to make a Diaper Cake: Instruction Video on YouTube

Owl Images: Prettiful Designs

White Favor boxes: Dollar Tree in wedding section

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Baby Gift

I'm still here, but I have been extremely busy. School has been out for two weeks, so there has been something planned for almost every single day. That doesn't leave much room for blogging unfortunately. 

So, anywhoodles, I have a quick gift I wanted to share with you all today.

I have a baby shower to attend, and this is what I came up with for the gift. I needed something inexpensive & quick. I had all of the materials on hand....doubly awesome:o)

 I love this little hair bow. I'm not sure if the baby will have hair when she gets here, but if she does, she will definitely be able to coordinate with this little bit of sweetness. 

 I hope to get back into crafting mode very soon. 

I sat down in front of my sewing machine for the first time in 2 months yesterday. I have the sewing itch, and I'm dying to scratch:o)

Have a great rest of the day!!

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