Our Advent Wreath

A little while back, I saw this great kid made Advent Wreath on Chica Schmica. I knew immediately that I wanted to make it. I really want my kids to know the real "Reason for the Season". This is one great way to do that. We had fun doing it and after the lighting of the first candle in church, they were excited to "light" their own. So, here is our version of the kid made advent wreath:

Making Mounds Bars

What you will need:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 cups coconut

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips

2T. peanut butter

1. Crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs. The girls did this by putting the graham crackers in a Ziploc bag and rolling them with a rolling pin.

2.Combine crumbs, sugar, and butter.

3. Press mixture into the bottom of a 10x11" pan.

4.Stir together coconut and milk.

5.Spread over crumb crust. Bake @ 375 for 15 minutes.

6.Melt chocolate chips, stir in peanut butter and spread over warm baked mixture.

7.Allow to cool and cut into bars. YUM YUM!

An Award From Vickie

Today I received a little piece of bloggy love from my friend Vickie! She is always so kind and I am certainly glad I found her. Please pay her a visit! I will now pass this award on to : Her Cup Overfloweth! Michelle has some wonderful ideas, she is the host of Muffin Tin Monday and has become a great friend. Thank You Vickie and Michelle for your kindness:)

Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Every year Aaron and I make these snowflakes out of coffee filters. They are super easy and it's fun to see how different they all turn out.

First, flatten out your coffee filter.

Next, fold it in half.

And fold it again.

And fold it one more time.

Now begin to make cuts along the edges. You can make as many different shapes as you want.

Unfold and your done!

You can hang them anywhere you like. We used a little bit of liquid starch to adhere them to the windows. Just lightly paint the starch over them and wipe off any drips that may occur. Now you have a beautiful snowy window!

Muffin Tin Monday-Favorite Foods

With the exception of Madelyn's dislike of veggies, my kids normally will eat just about everything. That's why I was not surprised by the fact that they named just about everything under the sun as their favorites. So, here are a few of them:

Top row: yogurt, corn, applesauce
Bottom row: salsa for dipping, fried pirogi, and fish sticks


For more Muffin Tin Monday visit Her Cup Overfloweth!

We Made Christmas Trees with our Hands

Because we plan to decorate for Christmas this week, we decided to start making some Christmas crafts. So, here is the Christmas tree made with our hands!

First, I traced the girl's hands. You will need ten hands for this project.

After I traced and cut out the hands, we began assembling the tree. We glued together four hands for the bottom of the tree. On top of that we glued three more and continued working our way up to the top of the tree.

Here is what it looked like at that point.

I then added a trunk and a star for the top.

Using a hole punch, I made a few ornaments for the girls to glue on.

Here is Madelyn with her finished tree. She is so proud!

Awarded Again?

Wow, I have to say that getting awarded for what I love to do is fantastic! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy:) Today I awoke to an award from Heidi Boos @Blue Eyed Blessings. I really appreciate it! When you get a chance, pay her a visit. She has a great blog.

The rules for this award are...
1. Pick ten people and pass this award to them.
2. Then contact them and let them know you have chosen them and their blog for the award.
3. Also link back to the person who gave you this award.

So, here are the ten bloggers that I am passing this award to:
1. Too Much Information
2.Ramblings of a Crazy Women
3.Super Fun Mama
4.Vickie's Scrapbooking and Tidbits
5.Chica Schmica
6.teaching tinytots at mommy school
7.My Little Gems
8.Life as a Mom at 21
9. Momma Needs A Time-Out
10.No Time For Flashcards

Bread Sculptures

It was a bit chilly today, so we decided to bake some bread sculptures. There is something so relaxing about kneading dough, and the girls love to get their hands on things like this.

What you will need:

1 packet of yeast

1 cup warm water

2 teaspoons honey

3/4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

3 cups flour

Combine the yeast and warm water. Stir until dissolved. Add honey, salt and oil. Whisk together. slowly add flour. Turn the dough onto a lightly flour dusted counter. Knead until dough springs back when lightly poked with your finger.Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise for 30 minutes. Punch down the dough. Now you can sculpt it any way you like. When your sculptures are finished, cover and allow to rise for another 30 minutes. Brush with beaten egg and bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Fruity Finger Paint

2 cups flour
2 packets of Kool-ade
1/2 cup salt
3 cups hot water
3 Tbs. cooking oil
Freezer paper to paint on (shiny side).

Combine all the ingredients and stir until smooth. I added a little extra flour to thicken it up a little bit.

Finger painting is a great way to practice shapes, letters and numbers.

Or, you can just have fun getting messy!

Handprint Turkey with a Twist

Today we made a classic hand print turkey, but with a twist. My kids love to be in the kitchen with me. I think that is a wonderful way for them to learn. I learned how to cook by watching my mom and I would love to pass that on to my kids. Sooo, I thought I would see how well they are paying attention. I asked them this question:

How do you cook a turkey?

Here are their responses:

I attached their recipes to the bottom of the hand print turkeys. I hand wrote the responses, but they would look a lot better typed and printed out. (If my printer was not broken.)

Here are the finished projects. It was a lot of fun hearing what they were thinking and they were super excited to tell me how to do it!

Another Award?! Thank You

Annie from Junior Mints and Reeses has awarded Just for Fun with The Snazzy Blog Award! Thank you Annie:)

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Here are the eight bloggers that I am passing this award to:

1.Finding Normal

2.On a Whimm

3.Sippy Cup Chardonnay

4.Momma Needs A Timeout

5.Never a Dull Moment...

6.4 handfuls

7.Delight in the Day

8.Stampinmom

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who participated in Muffin Tin Monday yesterday while I was the guest host! I had a fabulous time and I appreciated all of your kind words. The tins were all wonderful! Don't forget to join in again next week at Her Cup Overfloweth!

Muffin Tin Monday

Welcome! Michelle at Her Cup Overfloweth has asked me to be the guest host of Muffin Tin Monday this week. She was unable to do it due to a family emergency. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

The theme for this week is Fruits and Veggies, Dips and Spreads. Yum, yum! Next weeks theme will be:
Foods your kids are thankful for/favorites!

So, here is our yummy muffin tin!

top row: apple slices, yummy fruit dip, grapes
bottom row: a rainbow of peppers, ranch dip, carrots and celery
Muffin Tin Mamas

Hang On Baby Jesus. It's Gonna Get Bumpy.

Blue Eyed Blessings

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

My Craft Evolution

Muses of Megret

School In Our Home

Life is a Journey not a Destination

On A Whimm

Cul-ture-queen

Way Out West

Mind Games

Butterfly Kisses and Elephant Parades