Muffin Tin Monday-Appetizer Tray

Today's muffin tin should actually be called "Cleaning out the fridge Cups" but I thought Appetizer Tray made it sound more appealing;) Here is what I ended up putting in my kiddos tins:

They have Herbed Turkey Pinwheels, an Orange Izze, a tiny cheeseball with mini Triscuits, some Marcona Almonds, a baby slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake (Leftover from my Bday) and some Grapes. Pretty sure I could have put liver in the tins today and they would have ate it just so they could have the dessert!:) So not one of my prettier, or more creative tins but tasty nonetheless!

Muffin Tin Monday-Breakfast Bites

I was actually excited to do a more "traditional" muffin tin after all the Christmas tins. So this weeks tin was simple but cute. I went for a "mini" breakfast theme. I have a slight obsession with all things tiny/small/miniature:/
The kids tins looked like this:

They contained from top left to bottom right: Mini Pancakes, container of syrup, Chocolate Milk, small thing of yogurt, mandarin oranges, and baby sausage links. The utensils were a tiny spoon & pick meant for appetizers. The kids gobbled these down, and needless to say I had to refill more than one cup;) Linking to Muffin Tin Monday

Friday Fast Five- Homeschooling Tools Favorites

One of my 2 dear readers (Yes Aunt Dawn & Clare that's you!) requested that I put the new school table my husband made on my blog so she could pin it. So for today's fast 5, I am showcasing 5 our schooling essentials.

1) Our NEW School Table WootWoot! This baby was a piece of cake to make. I bought 2 cheap shelves at Wally World, and had my husband paint a blank door to match. He attached to the door to the assembled shelves with L brackets and Wall-la. A very useful/huge school table! Now to be honest this was about a $60 project with paint and brackets and everything. Plus it is slightly taller than a normal table so regular chairs don't work for kids. We are buying our guys saddle style stools (that also happen to come from Wal-mart). Just giving you the low down so you don't yell at me later;)

You will notice all the items on each kids "end". Those are the components to the rest of today's 5.

2) Their Daily Binders. At the beginning of the school year I bought each kid a cute binder and double sided pocketed dividers.

On each Pocket Divider I put one of the days of the school week.

On Sunday nights I take work out their Math Books, Spelling, Phonics, Etc. and put it in each day's front pocket accordingly. For those subjects that don't have tear out pages, or that have to be read aloud, or something "unpocketable" I put labels on that day's front pocket to remind the kids that we have to do those subjects also. For instance Bible and Science are mostly read aloud subjects, and we always do history together. The pockets are mainly for their "work alone" subjects.

Once that days work is completed it goes in the back of that days' pocket, so I know it is ready to be graded. I LOVE this system and it works really well for us. The kids know what needs done, and I can keep track of what is getting accomplished.

3) These HUGE white beasts are the kids cumulative binders. Once work has been accomplished for that week and graded, I move it to these binders. I keep these to show what they have done for the year.

I keep a clear page protector in the front to hold school work that isn't "hole punchable" such as unit work or crafts.

4) Each of the kids has their own Workbox. This holds all their essentials for schooling. They aren't suppose to use these for any other time. But I can't tell you the amount of times, I have been hollering because Gidey has lost his scissors, or someones gluestick was in their room:/

This small crate holds: A soap dish full of crayons, eraser, scissors, gluestick, and a jar with Markers and Colored Pencils. The kids actually really like this system and we seem to be able to keep up with things better than previous years.

5) Homeschooling...or is it Van Schooling?

My last item is the kids customized clipboards. I hate to admit but we school on the go sometimes. So the clipboards are awesome because they just grab the work from that days binder pocket, attach to clipboard and go. We usually bring a pencil pouch and sharpener too.

There it is folks some of my favorite school tools. I also have an awesome planner that I should share with you sometime...

New Years Eve 2011

This year for New Years Eve I put together some "Goody Bags" to help my kiddos celebrate. I realize it is to late in the game this year to do any one else any good, however you could always put it in your file for next year;) I started with plain colored bags and added a printable clock detail to the fronts.

 I stuffed all kinds of goodies in side the bags!

There were the "Wearable Goodies" ( Tiara/Hat, 2012 Goofy Glasses and New Years Necklace)

And then the "Noisy Goodies" (A Spinning Noise Wheel, Hand Clapper, and Horn)

(

Then the "Messy Makers" (Silly String, Party Poppers, and Confetti! No your eyes do NOT deceive you, I caved and did confetti the close cousin to the accursed glitter!)

I also added a cute little Bottle of Sparkling Cider.
I did NOT put in the goblet,it is for size refrence only;)

Finally I added in a pop up tape dispenser and refills. WHAT!?! You don't add these to your New Years list? Well you might if your kids went through 3 rolls of tape before Christmas and you happen to find matching dispensers for 65cents on clearance that day;) My kids LoVeD them!

Also in the original photo I showed the kids bags with a cute colorful goal list. I really liked that list, however it said 2010 which bugged the SNOT out of me. So instead we filled out this adorable list found HERE. They turned out really cute, plus Steve and I filled out her Adult version:)

At that is New Years 2011 Folks! Wishing you all the best in 2012:)

Muffin Tin Monday- Sweet & Swirly Oh...and my "homemade" Poptarts:P

Today's muffin tin was one of my more time consuming ventures, however it still only took about 10 mins start to finish. And the kids were ecstatic with the results, and that is the real goal:)
The tins today were based on Peppermints & Candy Canes:

 The tins contain a Juice Pouch, Turkey Tortilla Pinwheels, Jello Cup, Candy Cane shaped Apples, Babybel cheese with a CandyCane Cutout, and Vanilla Yogurt with a red swirl with a big fat Peppermint Marshmallow!

I dyed the cream cheese in the pinwheels, and used a small cookie cutter on the apples & cheese. Hooking this Tin up at Muffin Tin Mom

I also attempted homemade Poptarts this morning. I am going to be honest and say they were rather dissapointing. If you LOVE the flavor of pie crust all by itself these are the pastry for you! However I thought they were rather bland, so if you have any ideas on how to "spice" these babies up let me know. All I did was take a premade piecrust & cut it into circles with my biscuit cutter. Then I dolloped a tsp of jelly in the middle ( I didn't want to put more in so it wouldn't ooze out!). I topped the circle with another pastry circle, and then sealed the edges with a fork. I used an egg wash on the top to add sugar sprinkles for texture and looks. They looked nice & yummy...but not so much:/

Friday Fast Five- Closets

This Fast Five is because I am running out of "fun" things so you get practical stuff;P
I took pictures of 5 closets in my house, so you could get an idea how I organize stuff. If you have questions feel free to comment.

1) This our Main/kids bathroom. I couldn't get a good picture of the whole thing, due to the setup of that bathroom. SO you get a couple of different shot/angles. Do you like the dirty clothes in the basket:/

2) This is the Hall Closet. Suppose to be for coats but we don't need to many of those in NC. So I shoved it full of games, crafts, and educational toys. Oh and the Dyson, which looks naked cause I gave it a bath yesterday, and haven't put it back together yet!

3) This is my Bathroom. Nothing special, again I left the dirty clothes in the basket just for your viewing enjoyment;)

4) This is Gideyon's room. Probably my favorite closet. Simple & clean. Have had that shelf forever and used it in his closet all kinds of ways! He doesn't have any "nice" clothes to hang, and we hang all our jackets on peg racks in the family room. Hence the lack of clothing in his closet.

5) And now to finish off with our resident packrat:Gilly! I try my best but that gal has to many "special" things. Gideyon's fit all in the little basket on the top of his shelf. NOT Gilly, she pretty much takes up the entire top shelf of her closet:/

SO there ya have it,  a peek in my closets:) Promise to be more creative with my Fast Friday next week!

Muffin Tin Monday- A little Ginger Guy

Today's Muffin tin didn't have much advance thought put in it, so it isn't my best work...However it is Christmas themed, so the kids were excited.

Our first Muffin tin of this Advent was a Gingerbread Guy theme:

In our tins: Some Marcona Almonds (the kids sampled these a Costco and LoVe them!) with a decorative Gingerboy pick, a PBJ Gingerboy Sandwich, Some milk with a pink straw(my kids think a straw makes any drink "fun"), some Gingergirl cheese cutouts, applesauce with red sugar sprinkles (those came out FAST!), and gingerbread boy shaped marshmallows!

As usual I am linking up at Muffin Tin Monday.

Friday Fast Five-Advent Edition

I am really excited about this Friday's Fast Five. It is something I have been thinking about the closer it got to Advent season. If you know my family at all, you know that my mother started a Christmas Countdown with all of her children that we all strive to duplicate in some form or manner. I have always done a small treat or activity/craft with my guys in past years. And in fact I will still give them little goodies throughout the month. However the focus of our Countdown this year will be on GIVING not GETTING! I had perused a bunch of blogs and ideas and here is what our family is doing this year:

This is a little baby food jar with slips/sticks of paper with Random Acts of Kindness on them. I took some from several different blogs, so I will share my inspiration with you in my Fast Five list!
1) This was where I got my "jar" idea.
2) This blog has some really easy/cheap R.A.C.K. ideas
3) This is a list of ideas for each daythat you could simply print out if you don't want to be fancy
4)This gal has a cute printable card to go with your give aways/RACK. Plus more ideas!
5) This is my favorite blog about this type of Advent! She articulates how I feel about it well. Plus a really awesome Printable Planner and Idea List:)
So hopefully I have inspired you a little this season, or at least given you some ideas for next year!