Muffin Tin Monday...no theme

Today's Muffin Tin Monday didn't have a theme. I made our favorite dinner...Salsa Chicken. You can find the recipe HERE. It is delicious & a crowd pleaser.

Here is what we had for dinner:

Top row: sour cream (for dipping), Oreo cookies, apples
Bottom row: salsa chicken quesidilla, string cheese, yogurt crush cup

The boys have been asking for months for the crush cups. I finally caved (with a coupon). Click on the MTM button above to see other Muffin Tin meals.

Egg Carton Pumpkins

Today Preston has a Preschool field trip to a pumpkin patch, so we decided to do a pumpkin themed craft. Here is what you need:

green paper
green (or brown) pipe cleaner
orange paint
egg carton (2 cups per pumpkin)
scissors
glue (not pictured)
paint brush (not pictured)
black marker (not pictured)



Cut your egg cups off of the egg carton.



Take 2 egg carton cups & paint the outside with orange paint. Let it dry.



Poke a small hole in the top of one of the cups.



Cut a piece of the pipe cleaner that is 2 inches long & fold it in half.



Twist the ends...leaving the top a loop.



Place glue on the edges of one of the cups.



Glue the cups together & allow to dry. Place the pipe cleaner in the hole on the top. Draw a face on the pumpkin using a marker.



Cut a leaf out of the green paper & glue it on & there you have a cute Jack-0-Lantern.



**Start stocking up on your egg cartons because I have 2 more egg carton crafts coming! Also...keep some milk jugs too!

Muffin Tin Monday..Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Today's theme is "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". I bought the book last week. It is a pretty cute book & I can't wait to go to the movie this weekend. Nothing too special, but they loved it anyway! I read them the story while they ate their dinner. It was a lot of fun!



Here is what they ate:



Clockwise from the top:

Orange Jell-O mold, mini chocolate donuts, piece of bread shaped like a cloud, grapes, spaghetti with meatballs (x2), & apple juice.

Click on the MTM picture at the beginning of the post to see other Muffin Tin links.

Caterpillar Cocoon

The theme for Preston's preschool for the last 2 weeks has been bugs. While camping last weekend, we found a spotted tussock caterpillar.



We decided to take it home & show the boys how a caterpillar changes. After a little research...I found that this caterpillar will turn into a moth that looks like this:



Everyday the boys wake up & go peek at the caterpillar. Yesterday was the big day. It started to make it's cocoon. We were able to watch it make the cocoon & talk about what it is doing. What a great experience for the boys! I know that they will have memories from this! The cocoon is the fuzzy thing hanging from the lid.

Upcoming MTM Themes

For any of you out there who don't participate in Muffin Tin Monday...I recommend that you try it out. It doesn't have to be on Monday & you could do it for any meal. My boys look forward to it every week. Here are the upcoming themes:

9/21/09 - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs/Children's Literature

9/28/09 - No Theme

10/05/09 - All About Me!

10/12/09 - Kebabs

10/19/09 - No Theme

10/26/09 - Fall Harvest/Halloween

I didn't know that there was a book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". After a bit of research...I decided to get it. I think that the boys would get a kick out of it & we are planning on going to the movie anyway!

Muffin Tin Monday...Apples

I had a lot of fun with today's Muffin Tin Monday. Preston's new favorite thing is to make his own Pb&J sandwich...so I thought that I would incorporate that into the Muffin Tin. To check out other Muffin Tins click on the button above!

Top Row: apple with a gummy worm, apple shaped Jell-O, mini cupcake apple
Bottom Row: pretzel barrel with M&M apples, apple shaped Pb&J sandwiches, apple shaped cheese

I ♥ playdough cookies!!!

I already posted about THESE COOKIES a while back, but for some reason it was a draft recently. I ♥ these cookies. They are so YUMMY, easy to make. My favorite part is that the kiddos can really be involved. There is nothing better except maybe chocolate. This time I made a double batch because they were gone too fast last time.



Here is the recipe:

The recipe:

3/4 cup butter (softened)
3 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (I added 2 tsp)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. In large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, & sugar until fluffy. Add egg & vanilla & mix until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, & salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.

3. Divide dough into fourths (this time I did thirds). Tint each with a different color of food coloring. Wrap each color of dough separately & chill for 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take a small amount of each color & then roll into a snake. Coil the snake starting at one end. Place on cookie sheet & bake for about 8 minutes.

We use these to talk about colors & you can even mix colors to show what they make. I also love how hands on it is. Give it a try!

Butterfly Hot Dog

Preston's preschool has a theme each week. The next two weeks are BUGS!!! I wanted to have activities that coordinate with their theme & today on ONE PRETTY THING they had a hot dog butterfly. The directions are on GOURMET MOM ON THE GO. She has so many great ideas over there so check it out!



It is pretty basic. Take 2 biscuits (Grands or whatever)& cut them in half. Put 2 halves together with the straight ends out. Do the same for the other side. Place your hot dog in the center.

Mix an egg & 1 Tbsp water in a bowl. Separate into bowls & add food coloring. Set the kiddos loose "painting" the biscuits with the egg mixture & a clean paint brush.

Bake ate 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Preston had a great time "painting" his butterfly wings.

He had requested that we had a picnic, but it was short lived. The hornets seemed to really LIKE Preston's painting because they wouldn't leave it alone. We ended up sneaking back inside.

A fun holiday...

September 19, 2009 is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

skull & swords from Eden Lane Designs...Caribbean Sea

Delayed Muffin Tin Monday...

We went camping over Labor Day weekend & spent most of Monday traveling home. Muffin Tin Monday will have to be Muffin Tin Tuesday. Tonight Preston said the cutest thing to me. Imagine a little 3 year old eating dinner & saying "Mom, if you make this all the time, then I will marry you!" Is there a better cooking compliment? So sweet!!!

Here is what we had for dinner:

Top Row: apple slices, salad w/ranch, & a breadstick
Bottom Row: mini rainbow cookies, baked ziti, & ranch (for dipping the breadstick in)

If you want my YUMMY baked ziti recipe go here HERE.

Max & Ruby's

Today Kaden took his lunch to school & Preston was pretty jealous. I started thinking of a fun thing to do for his lunch today. I came up with a restaurant. I remember doing that when I was a kid. I took a laundry basket & turned it upside down. I covered it with a blanket & used one of our Ikea stools for him to sit on. While I made up the menu...Preston got dressed up. (I am not an artist!) Preston named our restaurant "Max & Ruby's". He is so cute!



I gave him options that I really would make for him. He ♥ ordering from the menu.

I played waitress & used a handy mini notebook to take his order. Then, I played chef. We had a great time.



I didn't put dessert on the menu because I had a surprise dessert for him....a banana parfait...YUM!!!

Rain Gutter Book Shelves

I have seen Rain Gutter bookshelves on a couple of websites. I thought that they were an amazing idea from the start...we have had issues with the boys' books for WAY too long!!! HERE is a tutorial. We just did it without the tutorial & I think that they turned out GREAT!! I am so happy!!! Now I can use the top of their dresser for other things...LIKE THIS....

Yes..my husband talked me into dwarf hamsters...THREE of them. They are so stinkin cute & the boys ♥ them.