muffin tin monday - pizza faces!

Hooray for Muffin Tin Mondays!

Today's theme over at Her Cup Overfloweth is faces/people. The first thing that popped into my head were pizza faces. I didn't quite have the creative juices flowing to think outside the box (I need to clear all the cobwebs out of there first). English muffin pizzas are always a hit at our house, so why not go with something I KNOW they love to eat!

spread the sauce
(look at the cute chef's assistant)

add the cheese

some sliced olives for the eyes
(see that little hand sneaking in for an olive?)

and pineapple for the nose
(Austin is just eye-ing those olives!)

finished off with a Canadian bacon smile

ready for the oven!

and ready to eat!

For the side dish the kids got muffin cups of applesauce and to stick with the theme, I added a raisin face.

I guess someone is a little excited to dig in!

If you feel like joining in the fun, check out Michelle's blog at Her Cup Overfloweth.

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In other Monday morning news...

Mikayla and I headed to the hospital this morning for an echocardiogram appointment that was scheduled after her doctor's visit last week. Last week was the second time that Dr. Tami had heard a heart murmur, so she wanted me to take Mikayla to get an ultrasound of her heart. She said most likely it was nothing to worry about, but she just wanted to be sure.

I told Mikayla we were going to a different doctor. I knew she had no idea what was in store for her. We made it to the hospital, chatting the whole way. I love spending time with her these days. She's so talkative and you can actually have a conversation! We arrived in the lobby at exactly 8:00 and waited for the technician to come get us. Around the corner walked a male technician and I instantly thought, "oh, darn it! this isn't going to be good." For some unknown reason, Mikayla has a slight aversion to males (swim instructors, dentists, etc.) She instantly jumped in my lap and started crying and saying that she didn't want to go.

For the next 20 minutes I tried to calm down this poor girl who was very upset about the whole thing. I couldn't peel her from my lap. The poor technician didn't quite have a way with children, so I had to do my best to make the situation seem less scary to her by trying to explain what was going to happen. That she got to have pictures of her heart just like mommy got to have pictures of Mikayla and Austin when they were in her tummy.

She finally agreed to lay down, but only if she could lay on top of me. As I was laying there, stroking her hair, and rubbing her arms, I couldn't help but tear up at this brave girl. I knew that there were so many scary things for her...dimmed lights, strange room, strange man, etc. But, she did such a great job and laid still to let him listen to her heart and take pictures for the next 10 minutes. Not one more peep out of her. I think she looked at the screen the whole time. I was so proud of her!!

For a special surprise, I took her to the Dollar Tree to pick out a gift for being such a brave girl. We were in and out less than 3 minutes because she knew exactly what she wanted...a princess puzzle. That girl loves puzzles! On the way out, she also wanted to get something for her brother and again my heart was filled with pride for this sweet girl.

I'm so proud of you, Mikayla Lynne!