Do you Pin? How about a Challenge?

Have you gotten addicted interested in Pinterest yet?  Well, if you haven't signed up and need an invite - feel free to share your e-mail address and I'll send you one.  Be forewarned, it is addicting and wastes more time than facebook :-)  So, I've been "Pinning" like crazy but, like so many other folks out there I'm starting to feel like all I do is Pin - I never do!  I'm following the inspiration of others and am taking the Pinterest challenge and I'm going to try and complete one item that I've pinned each week.  Honestly, there are a lot things I pin that I will never, ever use or make so I'm also trying to delete some things too. 

Anywho, this is my first project - it just happens to match up with a baby shower I went to recently and I think it might become my "go to" gift for showers.   The inspiration came from Little Birdie Secrets and looked like this:

Aren't they just adorable? 

Well, here is what I did for mine version!

I'm not going to write out the tutorial - please visit the inspiration site for that but I will tell you a few things I learned. 

1.  The smaller the onsie (the "frosting" of the cupcake) the easier it is to roll.  I bought 3-6 month onsies and they added some extra thickness to the overall cupcake. 

2.  Buy the right size coffee filters.  I bought the small ones on accident - they did not work (which is why I didn't use them!

3.  Instead of using a "cupcake" box I used a wipe container and purchased extra wipes to put in it later.  You could buy a full box of wipes, remove the wipes and put them in a Ziploc bag and give them that way instead.  I just happen to always have empty wipes containers!

4.  You could modify this based on the relationship you have with the person - if it is someone you work with or just go to church with but don't know well - just do the simple one I did above with blankets, onsies, a toy and some spoons.  If it was for a really close friend, I would add something else - maybe even a gift card to Target or something so she could shop for herself or I've seen Lollipops made out of washcloths and even "Frappes" made out of all kinds of cute things - you could do the whole food theme! 

My first "PIN" creation was a huge success!

Too Cute Note To Toot!

I thought I would start this week with a non-Halloween related idea.  I ran across this cute idea for a frame at a blog I follow called Lines Across my Face.  It is such a simple idea yet makes a great impact.  It would make a great baby shower or wedding shower gift and is so original! 

I love this Halloween post from Oopsey Daisy.  The Subway Art and Glitter trees are just so bright and colorful plus she has a link to print your own art!

My husband and I have talked about putting up window boxes for years so I'm really just putting this idea in the post as a reminder as well as an idea from Our Seven Dwarfs.

One thing I like to do at various holidays is to hang things from the ceiling.  I find it adds a lot of dimension to a room so when I saw the tutorial for these yarn spheres, I wanted to share.  Check it all out over at Red Couch Recipes.

Sassy Sites is one of my favorite blogs and on Monday, she shared a super easy but super cute Halloween Decor idea. 

I usually share Teaching Ideas over on my Mommy School post on Sunday but I thought I would plug this one in here since I haven't started that post yet.  Check out this cute preschool pack over at Over the Big Moon.

This next idea is from Occasionally Crafty and is a pumpkin party.  I also have one child with an October birthday and I am planning on a Halloween themed birthday party in the next year or two so I wanted to save this idea for future reference :-)

Sorry for the short post this week - I'm running a little behind on getting my posts written so I don't have the time to search out all of my normal linky parties!  I usually make it up in a future post :-) 

Muffin Tin Monday

It's been a few weeks since I've taken the time to post for Muffin Tin Monday but, since I just uploaded pictures I thought I would throw this together.  See, I always remember to take the photo, I just don't always remember to write the post and upload the photo!

Our tin today looked like this:

We had applesauce, "M's" (M & M's), Pretzel Sticks, Ketchup, Chicken Nuggets, Apple Slices and Cheese.  I didn't realize until after I cut the apple up that I had to many items for my tin!  Oh well.  The favorite item today?  The Applesauce!  I was surprised that the boys looked over the M's for the Sauce. 

Letting Go of Mommy Guilt

Ironically, as I was thinking about this topic I read a post over at The Better Mom that was along the same lines - Facing Regret in Missed Opportunities.

Here's the simple truth, I really don't like statements like this:  "They are only young once", "The house can wait, but the kids can't", "Take time to play, the laundry can wait another day" and so on.  Why?  Because, really, they are lies HA!

I love my boys.  Lots.  I love to see them learn new things, explore everything they can, play all day, and experience life.  I love to interact with them and sometimes despise that they are growing up so fast.  Yet, no matter how hard I try, I can't stop progress (nor do I really want to) and, even by taking pictures, writing down funny things, and grabbing the video camera, guess what . .. I won't catch or remember every detail of their life.  I've slowly learned to let go of that unrealistic idea that I COULD catch every moment.  When Josh was born, I tried to take a picture of him every single day so that I wouldn't miss a thing . . that eventually fell by the wayside and now I'm intentional about getting the camera out as often as possible, at least every other day, and we try to use the video camera at least every few weeks (we are not big video people).  It is fun to look back and see how much they have changed or the funny facial expressions or the fact that we used to call Nate "Chicken skin" because his skin was so thin.  I realized as I was scrapbooking thousands hunderds of pictures recently that I have not missed moments - I've captured so many there is hardly room for them all!

But what about all of the times that the boys say "Play, mom, Play. Please?"  By all of the time I mean once an hour all day long.  I would like to defunk a few of those previous statements.  First, the whole thing about the fact that house cleaning can wait.  Do you realize that if I keep putting off cleaning my house, I will eventually be on an episode of hoarders HA!  Now THAT would be a memory for my kids, wouldn't it?  I DO have to clean my house.  I try to break it up over the entire week so I don't spend an entire day cleaning but rather 30-60 minutes throughout the day.  My house is cleaned, picked up and sometimes organized so that the kids (and adults) can enjoy being in the space.  Second, the Laundry.  I don't know about you, but if I don't do laundry on a regular basis (like almost daily) I cannot catch up for DAYS not to mention that we run out of clothes very quckly!  Laundry doesn't take a lot of time, really, I have assigned a "type" of laundry to each day, leaving Wednesday as my catch up day, and normally I only do 1-2 loads a day.  Not that big of deal.  Of course, the famous "they are only young once" - you are right,they are, but in each phase they go through, it is so much fun to see the NEW things.  Sure, we miss the old times of holding a newborn, or teaching them to walk (I will be SOOO glad when they are potty trained - seriously) but the new adventures are just as fun, if not more sometimes. 

What about the guilt?  The guilt of not spending every moment playing with your kids or feeling like maybe you missed a teaching opportunity.  For me, I thought back to my own childhood (because I wanted to make sure I wasn't scarring my kids for life HA!) I realized that I don't have these memories of my mom dropping everything to make sure I was entertained but rather, I learned to entertain myself, knowing my mom was there to spurn my creativity.  I also have memories of our family doing things together both at home and elsewhere - bowling always stands out even though we didn't bowl for years and years, but we did have fun the few times we did.  I also have memories of family dinners, game time, and just laughing lots.  For me, I realized that I don't need to be my boys entertainment.  I want them to learn to play by themselves and to get along together.  Sure, I get on the floor and play trains and trucks with them several times a week or we all go outside and I play baseball, do wagaon pulls, and throw balls around but I also read alot while they play :-)  I don't think that by taking time to clean my house, read a book, or even work on some project, I'm missing out on my children's childhood but rather I am part of it by talking to them while they play, laughing at their antics and just being there for them (Plus, they love to help me clean - dusting, sweeping and vacuuming are some of their favorites!).  Something else I've started doing is having my daily devotions in front of my kids instead of in the quiet of the morning.  I love that they want to know what I'm doing and are interested in what I'm reading.  I am also trying to be intentional each day and by that I mean I am planning at least one activity with each of the kids each day.  With Nate right now, it is the mornings.  He is usually the first one of the kids up so he and I get time alone in the morning -we cuddle, talk, and laugh.  Josh and I get time after the little boys go down for naps.  As he is getting older, I'm focusing more on learning activities (you can read my Mommy Time posts HERE) but it still takes planning.  I also try to plan one family focused activity a week whether it be learning how to kick a ball to having a movie/popcorn night to going to the zoo or park.

So, can you let go of the Mommy Guilt?  I still have days that I wonder if I'm doing enough but, then I stop to see what I am doing and realize, I'm ok.  I liked this concept that I heard months ago - If you try to make every day special, there will be no special days.  It is near impossible to plan every day to be a memory BUT if you plan memories to happen on certain days, your children will have just that, memories to carry with them forever.  Do you remember every day from your childhood?  I know I don't but I do have lots of great memoreis that are built on planned and non-planned moments.

Weight Watchers Saturday

So, I started out this week with great intentions.  Little did I know that the recipes that I posted Last Week would turn out to be . . .AWFUL!  Seriously.  I was kinda excited to put together the salad with butternut squash in it.  I roasted the squash and taste tested it - it was yummy!  We all sat down at lunch and I started eating the salad . . .the combination of everything or maybe it was just the dressing . . .just tasted terrible.  The rest of the week I either ate what the kids ate or ate left overs.  I also made the pumpkin "muffins" but as I was making them I realized they were really little cheesecakes, which was fine, until I tasted one.  Icky.  I did not like the taste at all - it probably didn't help that I used plain yogurt instead of vanilla and plain pumpkin instead of pumpkin butter of pie filling so it was tangy and not sweet!  I resorted to Chocolate Milk and/or cereal all week.  Oh well!  I never did make my spinach dip - which I actually really like, but it just didn't happen this week.

So, lets try this again. I plan on making  Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins to have for breakfast.  I'm hoping for much more success with these little sweeties!  They are 5 points each and I'm planning to make them up on Sunday evening so they are ready to go on Monday morning.

For lunch, I'm going to make up a batch of Baked Potato Soup on Monday and have it for lunch Monday-Thursday.  It is 5 points for 1 cups and makes 5 servings - but I think I'll probably have  1 1/4 cups for lunch.  On Friday, we are having Grilled Cheese and Soup - and that sounds really good!  Along with the soup, I plan on making up some Bruscheeta-with-tomato-and-basil to have on some bread rounds with the soup.  They are 1 point each so I'll plan on having 4-5 with my soup which will give me about 10 or 11 points for lunch. 

I'm hoping for much more success this week than I had last week!

Weekly Menu - October 8th

Welcome back to another fun filled installment of my weekly menu HA!  This past week a friend, and fellow blogger, over at Everything Beautiful did a weekly menu post . . .or I should say bi-weekly post - too and she inspired me with a few ideas.  If you have never read her blog, you should!  She discusses some pretty tough and thought provoking topics.  She is not afraid to lay it on the line, let me tell you!  I've known her since high school so we'll just say that we go way back!! 

As I am working on this post, I'm sitting outside in close to 80 degree weather - Indian Summer anyone?  The nice thing about 80 degree temps in the fall is that there is no humidity and, the air is actually cooler (or is it that sun is further away . . . I never did well in science!).  Unlike the dog days of summer, my back yard is actually covered in shade already so it is a great place to relax and watch my kids play.  In light of trying to get some things knocked off the never ending, ever growing to do list, I'm typing instead of reading today :-)

Back to my friend I mentioned above.  She shops every two weeks, bless her little heart ;-)  I've tried that but it does not work for me.  By the time I get half way through the store, I'm just tossing things in the cart because I'm too tired and my list is too long!  You go girl!  She does offer some great reminders - shop the sales and take a list!!!  Like her, coupons are not my best friend.  I go back and forth with using them but I've found that often they cost me more money in the long run.  I think if I lived in an area where they did double or triple coupons, it would be worth it but right up front, I have to save more than $2.00 just to justify paying for a paper every week.  So instead, I try to focus on the sales as much as possible but also, just try to keep my recipes simple and inexpensive to begin with and that helps out alot.

So, here is what is on the menu this week!

Saturday: Our almost 3 year old is getting pictures taken on Saturday afternoon and than my husband has a concert that we are all attending so we will stop for dinner somewhere in between those two things. 

Sunday: Homemade Lasagna, garlic bread and salad

Monday:  Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup (for me) and Chicken Noodle Soup (for the kids)

Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin, Potatoes (not sure how yet - I'll wait and see how the spirit moves), and Salad

Wednesday: Taco Salad (for me) and than Taco Fixin's for the kids and Savory Rice

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff, Asparagus, Noodles, and Biscuits

Friday: Mongolian Beef and Broccoli with baked brown rice (** If the weather is nice and the leaves are falling, we will go to our favorite park to play in the leaves which would mean grabbing something quick for a picnic instead!)

Snacks and Desserts:
Apple Crisp - Something the kids can help make!
Dutch Apple Bread with Apple Butter
Paula's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
Strawberry Trifle

The Snack and Dessert Idea I picked up from my friend over at Everything Beautiful - I was getting lazy with planning this stuff :-)  The Cookies and the Trifle I'll make over the weekend to enjoy and for lunches; than later in the week the kids and I will make some Apple Crisp; I also want to get back into making breads now that it is cooler - they are great for snacks, breakfast or to send with my husband in his lunch! (depending on how they all turn out, I promise to share recipes soon!)

Finally, I want to give a shout-out to another blog I follow called Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Once a month she shares her family monthly menu.  I decided to use it this month as a guide.  Several of the recipes I'm using this week came from her site/menu but it also helps me think of related dinners/lunches that I could make based on her list.  I decided to try this for a month and see how I do.  I was kinda getting into a rut again and was getting bored with planning meals.  I start to get overwhelmed with recipes after awhile and need to take time again to figure out what we truly love, what are for special occasions and what we need to get rid of! 

Wait, there is another finally :-) I'm back into the perfect cookie search!  I did this about a year ago and had fun with it but than, it got hot out.  I have a couple fantastic cookie recipes but so many I try we don't really care for.  I now have THE perfect Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe so I am tossing all of the others we kinds liked; and now I'm in search of the perfect Oatmeal cookie. (thus the choice this week). 

Now, that is FINALLY all for this post!

(recipes in this pretty font .  .. I promise to share later . . if they are good !)

Food Friday - Homemade Spaghetti Sauce!

I can't seem to locate my blog calendar - the place where I write down everything I'm posting in future weeks so I don't forget something.  I'm sure I had a more exciting recipe to post today but . . I also know I've wanted to post this recipe for awhile too!  Since I made "cheater" spaghetti the other night, I kinda quilted myself into this post HA!  What is cheater Spaghetti . .. well, just open a jar and heat it up; dump it over noodles.  That is not REAL Sauce! 

Spaghetti Sauce
adapted from Lynnette McMaster (one of my fabulous Sister-in-laws!)

When I was single, my sister-in-law would often share recipes with me that she thought would be useful and this one has been more than useful through the years!  I always question myself as to why I don't make batches and batches of this and always have it in the freezer!  Now that the weather is cooling off, I think I need to start simmering up some huge batches so I have easy sauce for stuffed shells, lasagna, spaghetti, and more! 

1 pound hamburger

1 pound sausage
1 onion
2 16-oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sugar
garlic, onion salt, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, salt, pepper
1 large jar Ragu Spaghetti Sauce

Brown meat; Combine in a large pot. Sprinkle spices on top and mix in (to taste).  Add all other ingredients and simmer on the stove for several hours, stirring occasionally. 

(make several batches and freeze!)