Yesterday, I was a Guest Author at Serendipity Mommy. I wrote about our garden, chickens and composting, specifically. Hop on over and check it out!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Taco Stuffed Shells
I'm not quite sure where I first saw this recipe. TOH, perhaps? Anyway, it's become a family-favorite here and while I don't make it often, when I do it is always enjoyed. I wish I would have had pictures to share, but Mr. CrazyLife fed the children last night while I went for a run and that was something he wasn't going to do!
Taco-Stuffed Shells
1 box jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
1-2 lbs ground beef (or turkey or chicken or pork or whatever)
1 package taco seasoning (or homemade)
1 jar salsa con queso (cheese w/salsa)
1 can refried beans
1 jar salsa
shredded cheese
tortilla chips, plain or cheesy
Boil shells until tender. Drain and rinse with cool water.
Brown ground meat. Add taco seasoning. Add 1/2-3/4 jar of salsa con queso and nux throughly.
Stuff shells with meat mixture.
In bottom of baking pan, spread refried beans and top with salsa. Put stuffed shells on top. Cover with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until warmed through.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Royal Wedding Fun
I don't know if anyone else out there is as excited about the upcoming Royal Wedding as I am, but boy am I ever excited! I can totally remember getting up and watching Princess Diana's wedding, as well as Fergie's wedding with my mom. Maybe it's because my family has always had an interest in British life and royalty. Maybe it's just because it's cool to see a beautiful woman become a real-life princess. Or maybe, just maybe it's because WAY WAY WAY WAY back in our family line, I had an ancestor with royal blood! (Mom found that out once doing geneology - My gram wore a tiara for the rest of the week and proclaimed that she always knew she was royal!!!! )
But whatever the reason, I am beyond stoked to get up early and watch as Will and Kate take their vows this Friday. I plan on taping the wedding as well, so whatever I miss while getting the kids ready for school, packing lunches and the like, I can see later.
In fact, Thing #1 and I are planning a Royal Tea Party and Wedding Watching Party for Friday night (or maybe Saturday morning, depending on how Mr. CrazyLife feels about it!)
We're going to dress up and wear hats. Drink tea. Have tea cakes and sandwiches. Maybe we'll even make some "royal" cupcakes like these from the Disney Family Fun site.
On the Disney Family Fun site there are lots of other fun activities to do with your children to celebrate the Royal Wedding. How about a Kate Middleton paper doll dress-up? Or print out a tiara like the one Kate may wear in the wedding for your little princesses to wear at your celebration. It's a definite must-see if you are planning a royal celebration!
There's fun stuff on there for us moms as well: Check out the fabulous headdresses and shoes. Bake up some of the princess cookies and cakes. Book a romantic get-away. Learn how to feel like a princess every day. It's all on there. Plus, check out the Disney Princess inspired wedding dresses - they are to die for!! If I was getting married again, I'd totally pick out the Belle dress.
Linking up to Friendly Wednesdays at Scraps of Life and Feeding Four
Monday, April 25, 2011
Meal Plan Monday 4/25/11
Meal Plans 4/25/11
Sunday
Lunch: Ham, sweet potatos, rolls, potato salad, jello
Dinner: Mac n' Cheese, ham sandwiches, fruit pieces
Monday
Lunch: School lunches/brown bag lunches
Dinner: Take-out Pizza
Tuesday
Lunch: School lunches/brown bag lunches
Dinner: Taco stuffed shells
Wednesday
Lunch: School lunches/brown bag lunches
Dinner: Beef Fried Rice
Thursday
Lunch: School lunches/brown bag lunches
Dinner: Egg Salad Sandwiches, Potato Salad, PBJ, chips, cut veggies
Friday
Lunch: School lunches/brown bag lunches
Dinner: Something on the grill (steak? hamburg?)
Linking up to Menu Plan Monday at The Organizing Junkie!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Happy Easter
Happy Easter!!!
May you and your families have a blessed, happy, and peaceful day.
He is risen!!
Alleluia!!!
A Cute Easter Idea - Jelly Bean Prayer Jars
Jelly Bean Prayer Jars
I wish I would have seen these earlier. They would have made great Easter gifts for the kids' Sunday School teachers. Oh well . . . we'll save in the file for "next year." I bet even our Youth Group kids would like to make these. Thanks, Mama Jenn for sharing this great idea!
I wish I would have seen these earlier. They would have made great Easter gifts for the kids' Sunday School teachers. Oh well . . . we'll save in the file for "next year." I bet even our Youth Group kids would like to make these. Thanks, Mama Jenn for sharing this great idea!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Meal Plan Monday 4/18/11
Meal Plans for the week of 4/18/11
Sunday
Lunch - PBJ sandwiches w/cut veggies and chips
Dinner - Tacos
Monday
Lunch - School Lunches
Dinner - Turkey Stuffing Roll-Ups w/mixed bean veggie
Tuesday
Lunch - packed school lunches (sandwiches, chips, fruit, veggie)
Dinner - Scrambled Eggs w/sausage, toast, hash browns
Wednesday
Lunch - packed school lunches (as above)
Dinner - Speghetti w/green beans, salad, french bread
Thursday
Lunch - packed school lunches (as above)
Dinner - BBQ Pork Chops w/baked potato
Friday
Lunch - packed school lunches (as above)
Dinner - Homemade Pizza w/breadsticks
Saturday
Lunch - do-again's
Dinner - Baked Ham w/scalloped potatos and salad, fresh bread
Linking up to: Menu Plan Mondays at OrgJunkie.com
Monday, April 11, 2011
Meal Plan Monday 4/11/11
This week's Meal Plans
Sunday
Hot Dogs/Brats on the grill, baked beans, stuffing
Monday
Pancakes and sausages
scrambled eggs
Tuesday
Hamburgers on the grill, potato salad, green beans
Wednesday
Ham with scalloped potatoes and corn
Thursday
Hot dogs and mac n' cheese
Friday
Homemade pizza
Saturday
Pork chops
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Friendly Wednesday
Trying a new blog hop today. Friendly Wednesday from Feeding Four and Scraps of Life.
Welcome to all new friends!!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Meal Plan Monday 4/4/11
Meal Plan Monday! Easy Peasy meals this week.
Sunday - BBQ Pork Chops in the Crockpot
Monday - Speghetti w/garlic toast and corn
Tuesday - Hot Dogs/Brats w/chips and cut veggies
Wednesday - BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Thursday - Pancakes and Sausage
Friday - Homemade pizza night or Pizza dinner out
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - BBQ Pork Chops in the Crockpot
Monday - Speghetti w/garlic toast and corn
Tuesday - Hot Dogs/Brats w/chips and cut veggies
Wednesday - BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Thursday - Pancakes and Sausage
Friday - Homemade pizza night or Pizza dinner out
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Mama's Mission of the Month - April
I've decided to join in another little meme . . . hope they don't mind me jumping in! This one is hosted by another Jenn with 2 N's over at Mama Jenn and is called Mama's Mission of the Month. She even made some cute little buttons like this one:
All we have to do is be a Mama, post a few missions and then report back if we accomplished them or not. Easy peasy! And for someone like me who has to make list after list after list of TO-DO's, but then no way to hold myself accountable, it's perfect!
So here are my April goals:
- Walk or Run at least 20 miles. Since I usually do about 2 miles at a time, that's 10 days of walk/run time in.
- Work on two preschool units; one for April and one for May. April - April Showers bring May Flowers/Caterpillers. May - How Does Your Garden Grow?
- Have all decisions and decorations and parent volunteers in place for Spring Programs.
- Clean pantry and Master Bedroom.
- Finish broadsword choreography and begin work on Esperanza choreography for dance classes.
I'm going to try to do five missions per month . . . not too many, not too few!!! If you want to join in the fun, check out Mama Jenn's blog!!
Everyday Math
While we've been on spring break here at CrazyLife, I've been getting some things ready for the next few weeks of preschool for Thing #3 and Thing #4. While doing this, I've been spending lots of time finding ways to bring school activities into our everyday life. Since we have such a limited time in the evenings to do school, we have to get as much "bang for our buck" so to speak.
Today I want to talk about everyday math. How we are finding ways to incorporate math into our everyday play and work here at home. It's easier than you think and as you go, you'll find more and more ways to encourage your children's math skills!
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Today I want to talk about everyday math. How we are finding ways to incorporate math into our everyday play and work here at home. It's easier than you think and as you go, you'll find more and more ways to encourage your children's math skills!
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Make patterns with building blocks, legos, duplos, etc. Do an AB pattern with two colors, or an ABC pattern with three colors. Or instead of colors, use sizes of blocks - big/little patterns, two bump/three bump patterns, etc.
- Have children divide fruit pieces such as grapes or apple slices into equal parts during lunch. Give them enough pieces for all the lunch plates and have them decide how many pieces go on each plate to make sure that everyone gets the same amount.
- Have children count silverware out for the family while setting the table. How many spoons do we need? How many forks?
- Measure toys. How many blocks long is your tower? How many legos long is your dinosaur? How many legos long is our book? How many blocks tall are you? How many blocks long is your foot?
- Let children help with baking simple things for dinner and have them measure out ingredients and count as they do. How many scoops of flour? Older children can take the fractions and figure out that if I am using a 1/4 C measure, how many scoops do I need to make 1 C? Let them stir - how many stirs until it is mixed?
- As we fold and put away laundry, how many pairs of underwear are there? How many shirts will fit into our drawers? Can we make a pattern with long sleeved/short sleeved shirts in our pile?
- Have children help sort socks (a double whammy as it helps them with matching and also gets them to do a hated chore for me!) Matching up colors and patterns and sizes.
- Look at sizes of objects around the room and play "I spy." I spy something that is bigger than the chair. I spy something that has an AB pattern on it. I spy something that is longer than your foot.
- During garden season, have children in charge of one special plant. They get to plant it and care for it. Sunflowers and beans are good because they grow well and show lots of change from day to day. Make a chart and have children measure growth of the plant day to day or week to week. Let them draw pictures of the plant at those times. Make a graph of their plant showing the changes. Or make a graph showing the differences in each child's plant.
- Have a rain gauge or snow gauge in your yard. Let children take measurements from that. Compare from day to day.
- Put up a thermometer in a place the kids can see it. Let them graph the temperature changes for a week/month. Take turns with one child being the meteorologist, so they all get a turn to take the temp. In addition to this you can do a guessing game - what will tomorrow be like? How will we need to dress today? Etc.
- When you buy a bag of beans, candies, soaps, or anything with multiple pieces in one package, have the kids estimate how many pieces are in there. Write all the answers down, then let them count and see who is closest.
A dozen ideas to get you started. . . how do you do everyday math in your house?
Sunday Afternoon Thoughts . . .
Lately, I've been in a kind of funk about life. Things in my world are being turned end over end and I'm not sure where they (or we) are going to end up. I've been spending a lot of time worrying over what is going to happen and how I should feel about it. I worry about my four little munchkins and how we will take care of them if the worst comes to fruition.
But last night while in discussion with my in-laws, I was reminded of this verse and meditated on it a bit last night. I'm posting it here to share - if anyone is feeling worried about what the future holds, meditate on it a bit yourself and I'm sure you'll feel better in no time!
28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which isalive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:28-34
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Serendipity Mommy and The Cupcake Bandits Great Going Green Event!!!
Candy at Serendipity Mommy and Christine at The Cupcake Bandits are hosting a Going Green Event during the Month of April. Follow these two dynamic bloggers as they plant and harvest their first ever gardens and take other steps to living a greener lifestyle. It's going to be a great ride!!!
And did I mention the FABULOUS prizes they are giving away???
You simply must check this out.
(but maybe you shouldn't enter, because I totally want to win myself! =) )
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