Starry Marshmallows

Need a fun snack idea for the kids for 4th of July?  How about Starry Fruit Kabobs!  I saw these marshmallows at Wal-Mart and knew I could come up with something cute to do with them.  All you need is some fresh cut up fruit, skewers and marshmallows.

Load up your skewers starting with a marshmallow, then piece of fruit, marshmallow...

Eat away!

Be warned, some kiddos might just eat the marshmallows and then tell you they're finished!

Happy 4th of July!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Have you ever made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and wondered what you are going to do with all those cookies?  Eat them.  I know, right?!?  Well, how about jazzing them up a bit.  With a little vanilla ice cream and mini chocolate chips you can make ice cream sandwiches!  Chocolate chip cookies are my husband's favorite cookie so we decided this would be his Father's Day treat.  While the little guy napped yesterday my daughter and I got to work.  She is quite the helper!  We made the recipe straight off the package of Nestle's semi-sweet choc chips, minus the nuts.  This was the best batch of cookies.  I'm not sure if it was the 1/4 wheat flour I substituted or the amount of time spent creaming the butter but they turned out delicious.  I'm so glad I put half of the batter in the freezer.  The kids can eat that batch while my husband and I are on vacation next week!

Two cookies, ice cream and mini chocolate chips...

Sprinkle the chips around the edge of the ice cream for that extra added touch. :)

 If the whole thing is just too much well then take it apart and eat it that way.  And, make a mess while you're at it!

Father's Day Gift

I just whipped up a little something for the hubs for Father's Day.  It's a cute bookmark with the kids photos sewn on.  I got the idea from Martha Stewart.  I bet you have everything needed in your craft closet and who doesn't have a picture of the kids somewhere in the house?!?

Supplies needed:

Grosgrain ribbon

Thread

Needle

Scissors

Photo

"Stop Fraying" for the edges of ribbon

Now when daddy is on the airplane every week he'll see his munchkins!  The kids helped pick out a new book to go along with the bookmark also.

Strawberry Banana Milkshakes

This week we're learning about fruits and vegetables.  We started off the week talking about vegetables.  My daughter painted a vegetable garden and we strolled through the produce department and picked out something new to try.  Today we switched gears and talked about fruit.  My kids love to eat fruit.  I wanted to make something fun with fruit today and since the little guy got his 2 yr shots I thought milkshakes would definitely cheer him up!  I gave them three fruit choices and they chose to make strawberry banana milkshakes which sounded delicious to me.  Did I mention it was 102 degrees here in Dallas today and it's not even officially summer yet.  Ugh!

What you need:

1 pint Vanilla ice cream

1/4 cup milk

1 cup fruit

1/4 tsp vanilla

Blend all the ingredients until smooth.

Enjoy!

Turkey Bacon Muffins

My friend is hosting a give-away on her blog, Edible Nutrition, so I decided to participate.  All you have to do is make a recipe using turkey bacon and send her a review with a picture.  I made the recipe posted on her blog that Denise Austin makes for her family from the Kraft website.


Recipe:
Ingredients

12 slices OSCAR MAYER Turkey Bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1-1/4 cups flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 tsp.  CALUMET Baking Powder

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup canola oil

2 large egg whites

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix bacon, flour, oats and baking powder in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients; stir just until moistened. (Batter will be lumpy.)

SPOON batter into paper-lined muffin pan or muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray, filling each cup 2/3 full.

BAKE 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate or freeze any leftover muffins.

Enjoy!

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Today's Creative Blog

Paper Plate Fish

This week we're talking about the ocean.  I was able to squeeze in one craft with the kiddos.  It was so easy but they LOVED it.  Even my two year old sat at the table and made his own.  Before we began the craft I read the book, Limu The Blue Turtle.

You need a paper plate, pencil, scissors, glue, google eye and glitter or whatever you'd like to use for scales.

First, draw a triangle on one side of the plate.  Cut out the triangle.

Next, glue the point of the triangle onto the opposite side of the underside of the plate.  This is the fish tail.

Use the glue and glitter or decorations to put scales on your fish.

Last, add the goggly eye.

What we're doing this summer

Summer has officially started at our house.  I knew I needed a game plan for my four year old daughter so that she is not a.) bored or b.) in front of the TV all day.  Thanks to the blog world I've found some ideas for our home.

Weekly Theme Calendar
On Clean Mama's blog I saw this idea.  I came up with something similar.  I have a theme for each week and planned some things for the month of June.  I'll plan July and August closer to those months.

I will say that introducing something like this with a few crafts and activities the same week I'm teaching and my kids are attending VBS was probably not the best idea!  Not only are we exhausted when we get home but there's just not much time to do much when the little guy wakes from his nap.  However, the VBS theme was "High Seas" so I thought "Ocean" might go well with that. :)

BINGO!

Along with a few other bloggy mommy's we are playing BINGO this summer.  We started it this week and it's been a lot of fun.  My daughter seems to enjoy it so far.  She keeps asking what else she can do.  I plan on changing out some of the squares each week.  I first saw the idea on From the Fence Post which takes you to Stacy Julian's blog where you can find the printables and make your own.  It's so easy!  I changed the rules and prizes to fit for my daughter.  

Bored Box

I also wanted to have something to pull from when she's bored.  I made a "Bored Box" from an old shoe box using scrapbook paper and Mod Podge.  First, we made a list together of fun things she'd like to do over the course of the summer.  Some of the things on our list are:

Go to the library

Go to the Arboretum

Play in sprinkler

Make ice cream

Make a book

Make cookies

Go to Farmer's Market

Go to ball park (this one threw me for a total loop!)

"camp out" reading

Make S'mores

Sidewalk chalk

Make a necklace

Computer time

Paint nails

Plant flowers

Have a sleep over

Invite a friend over

Go swimming at Grandma & Pop Pop's

The box hasn't been needed yet thanks to VBS.  I'm sure it'll come in handy very soon!

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Train party

For my son's 2nd birthday we decided to do it at a local play area with a Caboose available to rent for parties.  I stuck with a train theme and used primary colors for the decorations.  This was a great location for us since it's already hot here in Texas and the caboose was nice and cold inside.

I had a craft set up inside for the kids to do when they needed a break from the heat.  My little guy was already crafting before the party started.  This told me that I picked a good craft!  The craft was foam visors with foam stickers to decorate (all purchased at Michael's).  The kids all enjoyed doing the craft and even wore the visors while playing in the play houses outside!

This is a really bad picture but for lunch I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and used a train cookie cutter to cut them out.  I served them with a bag of Cheez-its and a juice box.  I meant to take a picture of a plate set up but we were moving around too quickly and I forgot.

As soon as everyone finished lunch we cleared off the table again and gathered the kids back up for cupcakes!  These were made by Cupcake Sally.  I love the candy detail she adds to the top.  Such a nice little detail and touch of color. 

Birthday boy!

Rather than buying typical favor toys that usually end up in the trash I opted for a non-tradtional, non-train theme favor.  I saw some cute water bottles and thought that would be a great favor.  What kid in Texas doesn't need a water bottle in the summer??  I mean not only is it HOT and we all go through lots of water but in my family we're trying to be greener by not buying water bottles.  My daughter added fun-size bags of M&Ms to the water bottles.  I also made Oreo lollipops using red candy to stick with the primary color scheme and then topped them off with sprinkles.  To complete the favors I used primary colored bags and made little train tags tied to the bags that said, "Thanks for coming to my party."

We had a great day celebrating with friends and family!

Linking to:

Just a Girl

Somewhat Simple