Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ hamburgers, tots, steamed veggies

Tuesday ~ turkey chili, peanut butter sandwiches

Wednesday ~ chicken fajitas, bean, chips & salsa

Thursday ~ fish sticks, mac & cheese, green beans

Friday ~ pizza night!

Linking up with Org Junkie and Fit Meals Monday...check them out for more recipes!

Valentine's mantel and a GIVEAWAY!

So here is what I came up with for a Valentine's themed mantel. I started off with some framed family pictures and candlesticks. The glass hurricanes are still around...this time filled with berries and nuts. I also spruced up my little topiary tree. I picked up some berry picks at Target after Christmas and randomly stuck a few of those in among the greenery. Then I used some wide striped ribbon and added a bow to finish it off. I am still on the lookout for a LOVE sign to place where the FAMILY one is. But I have a deep red color scheme going on here and the signs I have seen so far are bright red.

Now how would you {LOVE} a giveaway?!!! Remember my post about Shutterfly a few days ago? Well they have given me a code that will let one lucky blog reader get 25 free Valentine's cards! You have until midnight on February 1st to enter....just leave a comment on this post telling me something you love! I will randomly draw a winner and post the next day.

headband storage...

Little Bit is more into wearing headbands these days. They have just been piling up in a basket and just don't stay organized very nicely. Well how about this for a solution...

I have seen this idea around blogland but hadn't got around to making one until now. I saw this tutorial the other day on Emilie Handmade and that was the inspiration I needed to get mine done!

Valentine's Day means...

...chocolate, flowers, jewelry, dinner out, movie....!!! All of these things sound great...but who doesn't love a photo?! Especially of a loved one. Showing family and friends how much I care about them is what Valentine's Day means to me. I love to do that with photos and other handmade items.

Last year Little Bit and I had so much fun making cute little Valentines for her friends and taking pictures for these great photo cards we sent to family...{sorry it's not the best quality but I took a picture of the card since I had already scrapbooked it!}...

I used the Cocoa Trio design which is still available as an option. This year I have my eyes set on this cute one with a sweet little owl...yay! There are lots of other wonderful options for you to choose from.

Another way to show someone you care this Valentine's Day is to spend time with them. We love spending quality time together as a family. Some things we enjoy are playing games and working puzzles together so wouldn't it be fun to give the hubby a set of playing cards or a picture puzzle...

I mentioned jewelry as a Valentines gift earlier...why not combine photos and jewelry. I know I would love getting one of these photo necklaces or bracelets! Then whenever I wore it I would have my family with me!

I LOVE having photos displayed all over my house and sharing them with friends and family. That's why I love giving photo gifts and Shutterfly has some awesome products to help us do that!

Do you have a blog? You can share what Valentine's Day means to you and have a chance to get 25 free photo cards...check it out here!

{scrappy} fish...

I am still trying to recover from a LONG last week. Catching up on sleep from a wonderful scrapbook weekend and then getting the house back in order after being gone and having a sick Little Bit. I think we are finally getting back to normal...or as close to it as we can! ;)

I have lots of fun bloggy posts to share over the next couple weeks....scrapbook pages, organizing ideas, Valentine decor and more!

So at the scrapbooking weekend I was all about working on our trip to Disney. I decided to organize pics by park instead of by days, cause we went to Magic Kingdom 3 times! So I started each section with a pic of the park entrance. The second page I wanted to highlight the Nemo ride cause it was one of Little Bit's favorites at Epcot.

I had seen this cute layout with a paper pieced fish and decided I had to do it...

So using the inspiration layout as my guide, I freehanded the pieces of my fish. I went around the edges with a brown marker to help the pieces stand out. For the eye I used a foam dot from an alphabet set and a brad. Then I punched out random sized circles for the bubbles. I really love how it turned out!!!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ scrambled eggs, toast, bananas

Tuesday ~ creamy mushroom & chicken soup, bread

Wednesday ~ almond coconut tilapia, green beans, rice

Thursday ~ peanut chicken w/noodles, apple slices

Friday ~ tacos, refried beans, chips & salsa

Linking up with Org Junkie and Fit Meals Monday...check them out for more recipes!

Letter Oo

"O" topics...owl, ocean, orange

{Circle Time}

Calendar...Talk about the month and days of the week and put sticker on the day we are discussing.

Reading...days of the week book...Wise Owl's Days of the Week by Jane Belk Moncure

...theme books...My "o" Book by Jane Belk Moncure

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

WOW! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry

Songs/Rhymes...The O says...

{Letter Craft}

O is for Owl...{this one is my design}

{Activities}

Coloring...Letter Oo

Letter Identification...

find the letter worksheet

...do a dot letter printables

...letter tracing o is for owl

Spelling...We worked on spelling OWL this week. I wrote the word and drew a picture on our dry erase board. Each day I had Little Bit spell and sound out the word.

...tray with magnetic letters and cards with words {OWL, ON}. Little Bit placed the corresponding letters over the letters on the cards...while sounding out each letter.

Owls...dot to dot owl. This is a great exercise for getting letters in the correct order and drawing lines!

...owl mask. We cut a paper plate in half and cut out eye holes. Then Little Bit glued cotton balls all over and a paper triangle for the nose. I then taped the mask on a craft stick so she could hold it up to her face.

...toilet paper roll owl! I got the idea here. Gracie loved gluing the pieces on the roll to create an owl and then coloring it to add more personality!

Activity shelf...pom pom transfer w/tweezers; snowflake matching; marble transfer to star suction mat; number matching {must clip the correct numbered clothes pin to the same numbered snowflake}, "snow" sensory box {filled with all things white....pom poms, cotton balls, candle, pipe cleaners, beads, bowl, scoop}; nuts & bolts match up; orange lacing card

Computer time...Starfall {we worked in the ABC section with the letter O}

...Little Bit also loves to get in some computer time when we go the library. They have computers set up in the children's area with games, stories, etc. She loves working on Jump Start PreK!

Snacks....check out this owl sandwich...similar to the reindeer we did at Christmas time!

Freebies!

I haven't posted any freebies in a while so thought I would share a few I've seen floating around....

Just click here to request a FREE DenTek Comfort Clean Floss Picks sample!

Go here to score a FREE John Frieda Hair Care Product Sample!

Click on the Free sample link, in the lower right hand corner, to score a FREE sample of Cover Girl Natureluxe foundation.

Go here and enter your email address to request a FREE Maggi soup mix sample!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ pita pizzas, salad, apple slices

Tuesday ~ veggie noodle soup, toasted cheese sandwiches

Wednesday ~ honey teriyaki salmon, green beans, sweet potato fries

Thursday ~ french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon

Friday ~ meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes, bread

Linking up with Org Junkie and Fit Meals Monday...check them out for more recipes!

chocolate {pumpkin} pecan muffins...

Have you tried making muffins with a cake mix and can of pumpkin? If not, what are you waiting for!? Hehe....It's so easy! Also a great way to sneak some veggies into your child's diet {or yours for that matter!}.

I needed a snack to take to a scrapbooking overnight I am going to this weekend and wanted something fairly healthy....so I turned to these muffins.

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix

1 15 oz can pumpkin

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Stir together cake mix, pumpkin and water until combined. Add in pecans. Drop spoonfuls of batter into lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins and each one is only about 105 calories!

So you ready to try them yet???? If you aren't a huge chocolate fan, just pick your favorite cake mix and go with that. One of my favorites is to use spice cake and add in chocolate chips!

Letter Nn

"N" topics...numbers, nest, nose, nut, new years

{Circle Time}

Calendar...Talk about the month and days of the week and put sticker on the day we are discussing.

Reading...days of the week book...Mup's Days of the Week by Wendy Body

...theme books...My "n" Book by Jane Belk Moncure

Number Farm by Stephen Holmes

In My Nest by Sara Gillingham

The Nose Book by Al Perkins

Whose Nose? by Jeannette Rowe

The Night Before New Years by Natasha Wing

Songs/Rhymes...The N says...

{Letter Craft}

N is for Newt...{this one is my design}

{Activities}

Coloring...Letter Nn

Letter Identification...

find the letter worksheet

...do a dot letter printables

...used craft sticks to build the letter

...letter tracing n is for nut

Spelling...We worked on spelling NUT this week. I wrote the word and drew a picture on our dry erase board. Each day I had Little Bit spell and sound out the word.

...tray with magnetic letters and cards with words {NUT, NO, NOT}. Little Bit placed the corresponding letters over the letters on the cards...while sounding out each letter.

Dot to Dot....nurse. This is a great exercise for getting letters in the correct order and drawing lines!

New Years...coloring page

...party with friends

Activity shelf...pom pom transfer w/tweezers; snowflake matching; marble transfer to star suction mat; number matching {must clip the correct numbered clothes pin to the same numbered snowflake}, "snow" sensory box {filled with all things white....pom poms, cotton balls, candle, pipe cleaners, beads, bowl, scoop}; magnet numbers/color matching and counting pom poms; nuts & bolts match up

Computer time...Starfall {we worked in the ABC section with the letter N}

...Little Bit also loves to get in some computer time when we go the library. They have computers set up in the children's area with games, stories, etc. She loves working on Jump Start PreK!

my snow angel...

It is snowing....again...is it spring yet?! I don't mind the snow, if it would just snow. But there is usually wind that comes with or shortly after the snow, and where we live we can get HUGE snow drifts in our driveway. Even though I am ready for spring....Little Bit loves the snow and has been ready to get out and play in it. So I bundled us up and out we went...

She has been talking about making snow angels, so that was the first thing she did!

Then she wanted to make a snowman. The snow wasn't very packable, so we did the best we could just making a big mound of snow to accessorize. We had to have a carrot nose, so inside I went for that while she found rocks for the eyes and sticks for arms & mouth. Our snow mound man turned out pretty cute!

The morning outside was finished off with me pulling Little Bit around the yard on the sled!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ apricot pork chops, glazed carrots, green beans, garlic bread

Tuesday ~ green pepper turkey chili, peanut butter sandwiches, apple slices

Wednesday ~ chicken caesar burgers, tater tots, corn, grapes

Thursday ~ tilapia sticks, green beans, mac & cheese

Friday ~ scrapbooking weekend!

Linking up with Org Junkie and Fit Meals Monday...check them out for more recipes!

and the winner is...

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and the sweet comments on the necklace. I have had a good time celebrating this week and am glad I was able to share some goodness with you. The lucky winner of the teardrop pendant is.....SHEREE! Send me an email with your mailing address and I will get your one of a kind pendant out to you. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine!

Letter Mm

"M" topics...mom, moose, magnets, mail, mittens

{Circle Time}

Calendar...Talk about the month and days of the week and put sticker on the day we are discussing.

Reading...days of the week book...Mup's Days of the Week by Wendy Body

...theme books...My "m" Book by Jane Belk Moncure

Just Like Mama by Leslea Newman

The Mitten by Jan Brett

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

Moose Music by Sue Porter

Delivering Your Mail by Ann Owen

Songs/Rhymes...The M says...; Miss Mary Mack; Mail song {Blue's Clues}

{Letter Craft}

M is for Moose...{this one is my design}

{Activities}

Coloring...Letter Mm

Letter Identification...

find the letter worksheet

...do a dot letter printables

...used craft sticks to build the letter

Spelling...We worked on spelling MOM this week. I wrote the word and drew a picture on our dry erase board. Each day I had Little Bit spell and sound out the word. {She knows this one pretty well!}

...tray with magnetic letters and cards with words {MOM, MAD, MAN}. Little Bit placed the corresponding letters over the letters on the cards...while sounding out each letter.

Dot to Dot....mouse. This is a great exercise for getting letters in the correct order and drawing lines!

Mail...After reading the book "Delivering Your Mail" we made a mailbox. I found a template online but wanted a bigger mailbox....so I just used a piece of construction paper and we folded it around and glued it to make a mailbox. Then we used the rest of the pieces from the print out {eyes, mouth, flag} and glued them on. We also made 3 little letters that could be put in the mailbox. Then we sang the Mail Song off of Blue's Clues!

Mittens...We definitely wore mittens alot this week...as it has been cold and getting colder!

...We really enjoyed reading "The Mitten". It was fun seeing how man animals could squeeze into that little mitten! I cut some mitten shapes out of construction paper and Little Bit used stickers and crayons to decorate them.

Activity shelf...pom pom transfer w/tweezers; snowflake matching; marble transfer to star suction mat; number matching {must clip the correct numbered clothes pin to the same numbered snowflake}, "snow" sensory box {filled with all things white....pom poms, cotton balls, candle, pipe cleaners, beads, bowl, scoop}; magnet numbers/color matching and counting pom poms

Computer time...Starfall {we worked in the ABC section with the letter M}

...Little Bit also loves to get in some computer time when we go the library. They have computers set up in the children's area with games, stories, etc. She loves working on Jump Start PreK!

craft space {organized}

So I have always struggled with how to organize my craft space. Do I keep things packed up and ready for on the go scrapping OR do I have a designated home for everything? I kind of had a mix of both but I recently decided I wanted things out and visible...so I can see and know what I have. {I think I have a little kitchen theme going here when it comes to my organizers....lots of colanders, plate, spice jars, ramekins...!!!}

I really love my craft desk. It is an L shaped desk that has overhead storage on one side. Since I don't have a craft room, just a section of the basement, vertical storage was important to me. That's one of the reasons I choose this desk.

I have been collecting a few storage containers here and there but just this week I really started getting out accessories and containers and started reorganizing everything!

I love my button storage. I got a 4 pack of small Ball jars {think they are called Elite} from Meijer for about $4. I sorted them by color....greens/yellows, reds/pinks, blues/purples, and neutrals. {See the blue colander above the jars....it holds chipboard pieces}

I had lots of little containers of accessories that where just scattered here and there. I had an old spice rack in the garage sale pile, so I decided to repurpose the jars! I grouped like items together...silver brads, corduroy buttons, fabric brads, colored brads, random buttons....and placed them in their own jar. Then I punched some circles from cardstock and adhered them to the tops of the lids. My friend Jamie made me the plate stand for Christmas and I thought it was the perfect piece to display all the jars on! {In the bottom corner you can see a peak of a mini red colander filled with prima flowers!}

I have had my ribbon wrapped around round wooden clothes pins and sorted by color into 3 jars....love this! Then I have some ribbon still on the roll in the metal pail. I recently added the blue ramekin {to hold my baker's twine}, the large white glass/vase thing {found at goodwill for 96 cents, holds my copic markers} and the little metal dish {holds tags}.

On top of my wire shelves I added another white vase from Goodwill, also 96 cents! It holds more pens. Another blue ramekin which is currently empty but I'm sure will be filled up soon enough. I am using the "m" decorated box to hold my 6x6 paper!

And I'll leave you with a glimpse at my die cutting station. I have my Cricut and Cuttlebug here. The metal pail holds all my Cuttlebug folders, dies, etc....and the basket contains all my cartridges. The black shelf unit was meant to be a drawer organizer but I thought it would work perfect standing up to hold some cutting tools! {Another mini colander filled with felt flowers!}

Linked up to We're Organized Wednesday!

you say it's your {birthday}....

It's {MY} birthday too, yeah!

They say it's your birthday,

We're gonna have a good time...

with a GIVEAWAY! Since it is my birthday today, I thought I would give one lucky blog reader a present! How about a custom teardrop pendant handmade by me?! I made several of these for Christmas gifts and for myself so I thought I would share one here.

All you have to do to be entered into the drawing for your very own custom pendant is leave a comment on this post! If you would like a 2nd entry, become a "follower" of my blog just by clicking the box that says "follow" in the right column. If you are already a follower, leave a comment letting me know.

You have until Friday to enter and I will draw a random winner and post over the weekend!

{Pendant color/fabric may vary from picture and will come on a ball chain necklace.}

{You say it's my birthday by The Beatles...hear the song}

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ crock pot chicken tacos, corn, apple slices

Tuesday ~ my birthday....the hubs is bringing home ribs....yummo!

Wednesday ~ veggie noodle soup, toasted cheese sandwiches

Thursday ~ tilapia sticks, green beans, mac & cheese

Friday ~ pita pizzas, salad, apples slices

Linking up with Org Junkie and Fit Meals Monday...check them out for more recipes!