Been busy

Hello.  I haven't forgotten about my little blog.  I have been very busy w/ life in general.  Homeschooling is taking a lot more of my time than I expected for my oldest only being in Kindergarten.  She is very strong-willed, so sometimes it takes awhile to get the lessons in.  Some days I just give up.  I get right back on it the next day & do a little more informal learning often, but do not call it school. 

I have also been doing my own version of Becky Higgins' Project Life.  I did buy the journaling cards & special sheet protectors w/ the pockets in them.  I love this idea.  I was once the kind of scrapper that only scrapped for the birthdays, holidays, and big events.  I tended to not take pics of just the little things.  Once I started doing Muffin Tin Meals, I started taking pics of more things.  Of course, I took pics of the kids often when they were doing something cute or wearing a sweet little outfit I wanted to remember.

I have been on the computer much less lately - trying to keep a better home.  Don't know if I'm succeeding at that, but I am keeping caught up with dishes and laundry, taking more time to read (trying to read my Bible every day), taking more time to play with the kids, etc. 

I do plan to share some fun crafty things I have made as well as more muffin tin & bento lunches (we just made our first ones the other day).    So, please don't drop my blog  - more to come very soon. 

Muffin Tin Meals

I have been doing muffin tin meals, but haven't been blogging lately.  Today's theme is trees, leaves, & harvest.  I love to decorate for fall, but can you believe I do not have even one leaf cookie cutter?  I did have a tiny apple cookie cutter & some tree top food picks I got in my winning package from Muffin Tin Mom. 
The kids chose the bear muffin tin silicone liners.  I served them a strawberry kiwi mini muffin, applesauce, apple shaped peanut butter & raspberry jam sandwiches, and vanilla yogurt.   My daughter ate up every bite, but my son left his muffin stump behind.  LOL

 Here is a picture of all of the items we received from Muffin Tin Mom.   The kids were very excited to receive all of these goodies.   Until now, we only had standard & mini muffin tins and one pumpkin tin they would fight over take turns using.  

 Here is a picture of the lunch they had on the day we received the package.  They both had to have a flower, bear, & silly feet silicone holder filled.  They had steamed carrots, sauteed smoked sausage & ketchup.

Until last week, I had never heard of grilled pb&j sandwiches before.  My friend Jac was talking about how her daughter requested them, so we had to try it.  This was our Halloween muffin tin meal from last week's theme.  They had cottage cheese, grilled pb&j (raspberry jam), animal crackers, shark crackers (Aldi's version of goldfish - much tastier!!), and Laurana had an apple, too.  Liam did not want one for some reason.  He normally begs to eat fruit 2-3 times per day.   This meal was not very festive, except that we had the cute pumpkin tin.

Muffin Tin Mom Wilton Giveaway!!!

Go here for a "Super Cute" giveaway from Muffin Tin Mom.   She is sending out a really nice prize to one lucky person - all Wilton products - Noah's Ark cookie cutters, muffin tin liners, silicone muffin tin liners, soft grip flower cookie cutter, dog-themed set of cookie cutters.  I may be forgetting an item or two.  

If you win, you will be able to have some fun muffin tin meals for your little ones or just some more fun things for baking cupcakes & cookies.

You're a Hoot

I made my first card for stampTV today.  This was a color challenge to use brown, kraft, yellow, & red.  I used a Close to My Heart stamp called You're a Hoot for this cute little card.  I raised up my owl to give a little dimension, tied a bow in kraft colored hemp, & distressed the yellow & brown papers.  I hope you like it.

Home Chipboard Album

Sorry, I was feeling lazy after making my cute album & took the pic on my lap.  This was so much fun to make!  Each page has a different shape of chipboard - rectangle, rectangle w/ heart cut out, star, heart, house.  My mom was oohing & ahhing at this one for awhile.  The colors are right up my alley - browns & greens appeal to me.  Love the accent of yellow with it all, too.

Fall is in the air...

I have been more ready for fall this year than usual.  I am looking forward to getting my decorations out, going to the pumpkin patch, grabbing a jacket on my way out the door, making cookies, making up some fun crafts with the kids for fall, going taking the kids trick-or-treating, fall festivals, hay rides, roasting marshmallows, making caramel apples.  I am looking forward to those leaves changing & snuggling up w/ a cup of cocoa or cider. Oh, it all sounds like so much fun to me!   Here is a card I wanted to share that I made real quick after putting the kids to bed.  I used a peach color card base, a green patterned paper w/ an orange stripe over that & a little ribbon.  The pumpkin was made w/ three ovals & inked on the edges.  I raised up the center layer, then cut the stem free-hand & stamped the words in the bottom corner.   I hope you like it!

Big Giveaway at Dollar Store Crafts

Go to Dollar Store Crafts for a chance to win a Silhouette SD machine!!  While you are there, you can check out many great craft ideas that you can do on a Dollar Tree budget!!  I just love her website!