Bridal Shower Invites

My boyfriend's brother is getting married in August and I am one of the bride's maids. Since I never like the little cheap versions of invites for bridal showers I decided to make them :-)

Here is the outcome. If you see any blurry spots its because that is where the address or phone number was located. 

Memorial Day Week

We didn't have anything special planned for monday this week since I did not see the kids due to Memorial Day.

Reading Tuesday

After swim class I read this book to Jackson during pencil time and he did a comprehension worksheet afterwords. Then did a few other worksheets. 

Cooking Wednesday

Cooking Activity: Pepperoni Roll-ups

Items You Will Need: 1 tube (8oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls, 16 slices pepperoni, cut into quarters, 2 pieces string cheese (1 oz. each) cut into quarters, 3/4 tsp italian seasoning, divided, 1/4 tsp garlic salt.

Pictures:

Directions:

1a. Unroll crescent dough, separate into eight triangles. 

1b. Place eight pepperoni pieces on each. (we did however many they wanted)

1c. Place a piece of cheese on the short side if each triangle; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning. (Since George thinks pepperoni is to spicy we shook them up with the Italian Seasoning and Garlic mixture. We also found it easier to sprinkle the seasoning mixture on the crescent rolls before putting anything else on.)

2a. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet.

2b. Bake 375* for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve Warm.

We also had our yummy vegetable with these.


THE KIDS LOVED THEM! (George is VERY picky)

Field Trip/ Science Friday 

In the morning we took our weekly field trip to Children's Museum.

In the afternoon we did our awesome science project....

Science Project: Color and Bubbly Science Exploration

Items Needed: Droppers, Plate or Tray, Baking Soda, Food Coloring and Vinegar

Pictures:

Directions:

1. Mix together whatever color food coloring each child wants with vinegar and set aside.

2. Each child scoops out a spoonful of baking soda on their tray/plate.

3. Then the children used the to add colored vinegar on top of their scoop of baking soda to create colorful bubbles.

4. The children continued to add new scoops of baking soda and new colors of vinegar to make bubbles on the trays

Planting a Rainbow Week

This week's theme is Planting a Rainbow. 

Monday

Art Project: Painting a Rainbow of Flowers

Items Needed: 4 Kitchen Loofa, Blue and Green Construction Paper, 4 Bright Colors of Paint (add liquid soap to help with clean up)

This is a picture of a different group of kids doing the project.

Tuesday

Science Project: Catching a Rainbow

Items Needed: Milk; red, yellow and blue food coloring, dishwashing liquid

Directions:

1. We poured a cup of milk into a bowl.

2a. Squeezed 3 drop of red food coloring at the top of the bowl,

2b-c. yellow at the bottom, and blue at the opposite side (to form a triangle). 

3. Squeezed a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid into the middle of the bowl, 

4. and we observed the changes.

Wednesday

Cooking Activity: Granola-to-go Bars

Items Needed: 3-1/2 Cups Quick - Cooking Oats

                         1 cup chopped Almonds

                         1 egg, Lightly Beaten

                         2/3 Cup Butter, Melted

                         1 tsp Vanilla Extract
                         1 tsp Honey

                         1/2 Cup Sunflower Kernels

                         1/2 Cup Flaked Coconut

                         1/2 Cup Chopped Dried Apples

                         1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries

                         1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

                         1/2 Cup Ground Cinnamon

Directions:

1a. Combine oats and almonds in a 15-in x 10-in x 1-in baking pan coated with cooking spray. 

1b. Baked at 350* for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally.

2a. In a large bowl, combine the egg, butter, honey and vanilla.

2b. Stir in the sunflower kernels, coconut, apples, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon.

2c. Stir in oat mixture.

3a. Press into a 15-in x 10-in x 1-in baking pan coated with cooking spray.

3b. Bake 350* for 13-18 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned.

3c. Cool on a wire rack.

3d. Cut into bars.

3e. Store in an airtight container.

We ate it with vanilla ice cream and the kids liked it.

Grandma's Garden Statues

So my grandma's garden statues needed so touch up jobs on them here are the before and after pictures....

I almost forgot to take the before picture 

(This goes by my grandpa's grave)

After Picture

Again almost forgot to take the before picture 

After Picture

Breast Cancer Benefit Baskets

Here are gift baskets I made for a benefit people were having for a lady at my mom's work....

Lilac Basket

Book Basket

Planting a Cure

Popping in a Cure

Baking in a Cure

French Toast Casserole

When I woke up this morning I decided to create a breakfast I saw on Pinterest and since me and Adam both love french toast this sounded like a great idea....


Recipe:

• 5 cups bread cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

6 servings 

It takes a little bit of time but over all it was pretty easy. I also used my silk vanilla milk instead and omitted the vanilla extract by doing so. 


I did forget to set the oven 25* less than what the recipe called for so it only took 30 minutes. The outside was a little crunchy (my mom suggested I cover with aluminum next time). The inside was a little bit more soggy than I would have liked also (I can't stand anything soggy but Adam and mom liked it). Overall the taste was yummy. 


<3 Nik

Coupon Organization

So I am a huge planner... For example I have planned George and Samantha's entire summer break from field trips, cooking, science and art activities. All I need is for their mom to let me know what day their sporting activities are on and when.

Living at home my mom mostly takes care of the coupons and grocery shopping. I figured since I will be moving out soon I need to get a coupon system set up. I hate using those expanding file folder things bc they never stay open. So I found an empty box laying around the basement and decided to make little folders to fit in it.... Here is the outcome.

I made a folder for all the different categories plus:
*Air Fresheners & Candles
*Baby (even though I don't have one yet but it would have messed up the tabs if I didn't make it now and 2 years from now I needed it. Told you I am a huge planner).
*Bags
*Baking
*Batteries
*Beverages
*Bread
*Candy & Gum
*Canned Foods
*Cereal - General Mills
*Cereal - Kashi
*Cereal - Kelloggs
*Cleaners
*Condiments
*Crackers
*Dairy
*Frozen
*Health Foods
*Hygiene - Dental
*Hygiene - Other
*Jelly / Peanut Butter
*Makeup
*Meat
*Medicine / Rx
*Mexican
*Office Supplies
*Paper Products {T.P., etc.}
*Pasta
*Rice
*Salad Dressing
*Seasonings
*Sauce
*Snacks
*Toys
*Vitamins
Additional categories I made for specific stores:
*Bed Bath & Beyond
*Craft Stores
*CVS
*Kroger
*Target
*Walgreens
*Wal-Mart
Other categories:
Restaurants -- Gift Cards

I also made folders for different memberships so we can set the money aside ahead of time. This way when the membership fee is due we wont be searching for the money.
Sam's Membership
Moose Membership

<3 Nik