new years eve goodness...

Nothing like ringing in the new year with a platter of yummy goodness...

...peanut brittle, lazy man's toffee {definitely line your pan with foil!} and cinnamon sugar pretzels. All these snacks are super quick and easy to whip up!

Have you made any yummy snacks lately? Feel free to share!

Thanks for spending another bloggy year with me...Happy New Year!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ ham & beans, cornbread, green beans, apple slices

Tuesday ~ take out...pizza, salad

Wednesday ~ orange-ginger tilapia, green beans, brown rice, garlic bread

Thursday ~ chicken patties, carrots, chips, apple slices

Friday ~ New Years Eve!.....MORE yummy appetizers!

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

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Christmas is always such a fun time of year....especially with a 3 year old! Little Bit has been so excited and just can't wait for Christmas to get here. We have had alot of fun activities and outings to help us celebrate this amazing holiday. Wishing you lots of wonderful memories this Christmas!!!

Here are a few of the things we have been up to over the last couple weeks...

Books:

Piggie's 12 Days of Christmas by Howard Fine

Duck & Goose It's Time for Christmas! by Tad Hills

The Nutcracker by Gaby Goldsack

Snowman at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by John Rox

The Christmas Story by Patricia A. Pingry

Activities:

Making ornaments!...cinnamon ornaments, fingerprint snowmen, candy cane {pipe cleaner w/red & white beads}

Bow wreath...paper plate with circle cut from center, then mini bows attached all over to create a cute festive wreath!

Making cards...we used stamps to make a card for daddy and then we made another card using foam stickers.

Nativity kit...we put together a foam nativity set complete with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Paper snowflakes...good cutting practice!

Activity shelf...pom pom transfer w/tweezers; felt triangle trees to string on ribbon; jingle bell transfer with wooden spoon; bead arrangement with sugar shaker, pipe cleaners and beads; sorting mini presents by color; snowflake matching

Sensory Box...filled with pinecones, pom poms, jingle bells, red crystals, red & green candle holders, box, scoop and tongs

Drawer activities...build a Christmas tree; marble transfer to star suction mat; number matching {must clip the correct numbered clothes pin to the same numbered snowflake}

Open/Close...This was Little Bit's favorite from the activity shelf....{note that I had to take a separate pic cause it wasn't on the shelf earlier when I took the picture!} I put Christmas themed erasers inside each container. She loves "unwrapping" her gifts and then "wrapping" them back up for me to open!

Outings:

Christmas lights....fun family time together, we love driving around different neighborhoods and looking at all the lights!}

Journey to Bethlehem...a guided walk through a live nativity on the search for baby Jesus...put on by our church. Little Bit just loved it!

Toy donations...shopping for Operation Christmas Child shoebox fillers; shopping for child whose name we picked off tree at church; dropping off toys at Toys for Tots locations

finger print snowman...

I saw a super cute ball ornament with a stamped handprint turned into a snowman family. So I took inspiration from that to create our own version.

I bought a package of like 8 colored ball ornaments from the Target dollar section. Then we painted Little Bit's fingers and made a snowman! {Using 3 different ones to get the varying sizes.} Then I used sharpies to add in the details. Super easy, cheap and cute!