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.

*************************************************

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!

muffin tin monday - cheesey style

On our way home from Mikayla's doctor appointment this morning, I thought to myself...

Self, it's about time you do something fun for your kids' lunch!

So, for today's Muffin Tin Monday, we (me) decided that everything on the menu should be something with cheese.

top row: cheese quesadilla, peaches (they look like cheese, don't they?), cottage cheese
bottom row: chunks of cheese, cheese crackers, and cream cheese on a bagel

Looks like she approves!
{Hopefully her digestive system will, too! *wink*}

Where's Austin, you might ask? Somewhere far away from all this cheese. Tell me: What little 2-year old won't eat cheese!? He did end up eating the cheese stick (shocker!) and the peaches, so 2 out of 6 isn't too bad...for him.

Happy Muffin Tin Monday! It's been a long time...

For more muffin tin fun, check out Michelle's blog at Her Cup Overfloweth.

a whole lot of random all mixed into one

It's Monday! A start to a fresh new week. Time to get back into my weekly schedule that I desperately need for me to get productive once again!

And, well....I woke up to a couple piles of throw up in my son's crib. The week is starting out not so fresh anymore.

For me to have a little bit of "normalcy" on a day where it's anything but normal, I thought I would do a little housekeeping and get some things in order. A little random, but in order nonetheless.

Muffin Tin Monday
visit Her Cup Overfloweth for more!
One of Mikayla's favorite meals these days is meat, cheese, and crackers. I love how she wraps her cheese and cracker up in her meat and eats it like a sandwich.
Today's muffin tin includes meat, crackers, carrots, yogurt, grapes, and cheese.


Friend Makin' Monday
Kasey at All That is Good asked us this question:
What is the best advice someone
has ever given you?
Snuggle with your little ones as much as you can. They don't stay little forever. If that means cuddle in bed on a lazy morning, do it. Or read some books with your babes in your lap, do it. Let them fall asleep on your chest when they don't feel good (like today!). Just BE with your kiddos and enjoy those little moments...while they last.


Menu Plan Monday

This will be my third week IN A ROW that I have successfully planned our menu. It has saved me so many "what's for dinner?" headaches...and a little in the pocketbook, too!

This week's menu:
Monday - Chicken Tortilla Soup (similar to this one)
Tuesday - leftover Chicken BBQ from last week (yummy for sandwiches!)
Wednesday - Steak Fajitas? (anybody have a good recipe??)
Thursday - Chicken Pasta Pesto (changed the name to this one)
Friday - Take Out (busy, busy, busy day!)
Saturday - MIKAYLA'S FAMILY PARTY
Sunday - Slow Cooked Corn Chowder & Grilled Cheese


Recipe Swap
Anissa at Learning Together Hand in Hand
is having a recipe swap today.

Here's a favorite in the Boos household:

This is a great dish that can easily make two meals for two families of four. I usually freeze one of the square dishes or make the other to bless another family with dinner.

Taco-Stuffed Pasta Shells

16-18 jumbo pasta shells, prepared
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 cup water
1 can refried beans
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
1 jar salsa, divided

1. Cook beef in large skillet until brown; drain. Add seasoning mix and water; cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.
2. Add beans and 3/4 cup cheese; mix well.
3. Spread 1/4 cup salsa over bottom of each two 8-inch square baking dishes.
4. Fill pasta shells with beef mixture; place half of shells in each baking dish, filled side up. Spoon remaining salsa over shells.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking dish with foil. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Serve with sour cream.

**To bake frozen shells, thaw in refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic wrap; re-cover with foil. Bake 45-50 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve with sour cream.

And, oh, how we tried to get the
perfect picture of the kids on Easter.
Seems to get a little more difficult each year!

green cuisine

MUFFIN TIN MONDAY IS GOING GREEN!

~our muffin tin~
grapes, sugar free lime jello, cucumber slices,
green-tinted applesauce, veggie puffs, guacamole
all finished off with some green-tinted milk
(although you can't quite tell in the picture!)

{for others who are going green for St. Patty's Day,
head on over to Her Cup Overfloweth}

taste the rainbow

With St. Patrick's Day approaching, I thought it would be fun to do some rainbow activities. Plus, Mikayla has been talking a lot about rainbows, so she was super excited when her momma woke up this morning feeling 100% back to normal and ready to play!

We started off the morning doing a little "old school" painting of the rainbow. I guess that's all my creativity could muster up. I found a rainbow outline here. I copied and pasted it into a regular document and made it to the size I wanted it. Then I let Mikayla get out her paints. Oh, how this girl loves her paints!

We used the correct color order of the rainbow and for those that didn't know (that would be me) the rainbow colors in order are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (which most just combine the last two colors and call it purple). Just think - ROY G. BIV. Although this really works, does anyone else have a more fun way to remember the colors in order?

I was pretty impressed on how much she stayed within the lines and that the paints didn't go everywhere. To help her recognize colors, I had Mikayla find the color of paint when I told her what colors should go next. Then we continued to review the colors as we went along. For some reason she has the most trouble with yellow (or lellow)?


After the paint dried, I cut out the rainbow and pasted it to blue construction paper. Then I got out my cotton balls and we made big, puffy clouds at the ends. See? Old school.

I think it turned out cute and is now hanging on our refrigerator.
What a work of art!

Later in the day, I decided why not do something else that involves the colors of the rainbow? So, we took a walk to the store (our second one in 2 days) and picked up some fruit to make Rainbow Ribbons. This is a fun food activity I included in this month's MOPS newsletter and thought I would try it out! Both of the kids loved it!

Find assorted fruits that match the colors of the rainbow. We used strawberries for RED, oranges for ORANGE, bananas for YELLOW, grapes for GREEN, blueberries for BLUE, and purple grapes for PURPLE. (I'm a little early for the rainbow theme for Muffin Tin Monday, aren't I?)


This was such the cute activity and good, too! It kind of acted as a lunch for the kids. I was a little nervous at first that Mikayla would poke herself, but she was rather cautious. As we did this together, we continued to review the colors and made sure we went in order.


Austin had a blast eating the fruit...although he didn't care for the banana and oranges, so I made one for him minus the two fruits. He had so much fun taking them off the skewer. He was sitting in my lap, so it was hard to get a good picture of him.

Have a happy Friday!!

Go check out I Blame My Mother for more kid friendly ideas.









And for even MORE ideas, check out Saturday Showcase at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman.

just one {or two} of those days

This weekend went by in a blur it seemed.

We had to cancel my "already postponed" birthday celebration on Saturday (after spending the morning cleaning house) because Austin woke up from his nap with a high fever. No point in spreading the germs any more than we already had. I think we're going to give up on rescheduling. I'm old. I'm over it.

I threw a baby shower on Sunday for a good friend of mine (pics to share later!), so I shooed the hubby and kiddos out the door to my mom's house and hosted a fun time filled with ice cream sundaes and some cute baby girl clothes. Almost makes me want another one. Almost.

After clean up, the kids and Ryan came home and Austin's temperature was even higher than it was yesterday. Poor little guy...we could have used him as our blanket he was so warm.

Ryan was still feeling a little less than his best, and I was even starting to feel some achiness. Mikayla was the only one who was happily running around, bouncing off the walls. In his lethargic state, Austin fell asleep on daddy around 6:30 and they both enjoyed a 15 minute snooze.

Then we woke him up to change him into his pajamas. That was a mistake.

He wasn't too happy about that...

Don't you just love the hair?

By this time, it was time to fix something to eat, but I had little to no motivation for that. I knew Austin wasn't going to be up for eating anything, and really the only one who wanted to eat was Miss Bubbly herself.

In my attempt to keep up with Mikayla's "I'm the only one not sick" (and might I add a little bossy) attitude, I decided that this would be the perfect chance to whip up a muffin tin dinner. This week's theme was ORANGE, so Mikayla and I scoured the pantry and the refrigerator for all things ORANGE. She had a lot of fun helping me find something for her to eat. And I do have to say, it cheered me up a bit, too!

top row: cheddar cheese sticks, mandarin orange jello, peaches
bottom row: mandarin oranges, goldfish crackers, carrots

Is this the most nutritious meal ever? No. But it could have been a lot worse. (Check out Her Cup Overfloweth for more moms who went ORANGE for Muffin Tin Monday!)

After the kids were in bed, I sat on the couch (with my feet up and some Amazing Race playing on the TV) to work on a baby announcement I'm creating for a friend. After almost two hours of work, I was so excited about how it was turning out...and then my laptop unexpectantly shut off.

Guess who didn't have it plugged in?

And guess who hadn't saved it yet?

And as I type this, the scratch in my throat is getting annoyingly worse and my knight in shining armor is desperately trying to find my lost work on the laptop to save the day for his damsel in distress.

He's still my knight even if he can't find it.

I'm tired. It's late. And I'm praying that no kids get up in the night, especially the one who was once bubbly. I'm still holding out hope that she will escape the sickness.

This mommy needs her sleep.

She also needs to learn to use the save button a little more often.


*Don't worry...it's not all bad. I do have something fun to share very soon! I used some birthday money over the weekend and took advantage of a 40% off sale at Michaels and found something that will help spruce up my creative space. As my daughter would say, "that makes me so happy".

sweetheart muffin tin

top row: juice (a rare treat!), mini-heart shaped pb & j, Jello,
and red peppers (worth a try, but it was a "no go" for my two-year old's taste)
bottom row: strawberry yogurt, Craisins, and mini heart shaped cheese slices

Head on over to Her Cup Overfloweth for more Valentine's-inspired muffin tins...

And, if you're looking for a fun, simple Valentine's treat for your kids, neighbors, friends, or family, check out these heart-shaped rice krispie treats.

muffin tin monday...barely

Mikayla had an impromptu muffin tin tonight for dinner. We barely squeezed it in, but as I was preparing our dinner tonight, I had a little extra time to create something for this week's color-themed muffin tin - all things yellow!

Our muffin tin included (clockwise, starting from top):
bananas, applesauce, vanilla pudding, parmesan cheese bread, spaghetti (Mikayla is a "no sauce" girl), and corn...
of course with a glass of yellow-tinted milk on the side

For more muffin tins to brighten your day, visit Her Cup Overfloweth.

frosty the snowman still lives!

On Tuesday we woke up to it snowing outside. I guess it's still considered winter, so it really shouldn't be too much of a surprise if it snows. But, hello? It's Oregon! I kind of embraced it this time and was ready to get snowed in again (Leanna, you're probably laughing at me right now over there in Maine!), but as Oregon snow often does, it was melted by noon. I tried to capture how HUGE the flakes were, but the picture doesn't quite do it justice. In "real life", it literally looked like cotton balls were slowly falling from the sky. (And, no, that's not my house...I wish! It is for sale, though. Hmmm....)


Since it had just snowed, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to pull out the recipe for the snowman treat I was wanting to make with Mikayla. I had just read about this idea on Sunday night in the February issue of Family Fun magazine, and had actually wished it would snow a little bit, so I could do it...not that it actually needed to snow. So, in honor of some January snowfall, we created some snowmen friends.

As I was preparing the ingredients so that we could assemble the snowmen, I thought to myself...what could we put all of these in? A muffin tin! Perfect! And, since I hadn't done a muffin tin for this week, I figured this would be a fun one to share. (Head on over to Her Cup Overfloweth for other Muffin Tin Monday participants.)

Ingredients needed (clockwise): pretzel sticks, thick-sliced bananas, apple triangles, mini chocolate chips, and blueberries (the recipe used grapes, but we didn't have any, so I improvised!), not pictured: a sliver of a carrot for the nose & wooden skewers
See how proud Mikayla is of her little creation...
she kept calling him Frosty the Snowman
Our masterpieces served on a platter

These were so much fun to make! Mikayla loved helping (and, of course, stealing bites of the chocolate chips). I think creating things out of food kind of puts more fun into actually eating it!

For more fun and tasty snack recipes, visit Snack Time! at the Family Fun website.

monday morning blues

Don't worry, we're not down in the dumps around the house this morning (despite a couple of colds)...we're seeing blue (and purple) for Muffin Tin Monday!

This week's muffin tin theme (blue and purple) challenged me to get pretty creative with coming up with something for the menu, but I loved it! We went with a breakfast tin this morning in honor of our once a week "change of pace" to the daily meal routine.

I was even excited about getting up just to do this. And, if you were to ask my husband, this is extremely unusual for me! It's the little things in life, I suppose...

What's in our muffin tin?
raisin-cinnamon bagel with blue cream cheese, blueberries, purple Fruity Cheerios, blueberry muffin, and a blueberry-raspberry smoothie (in a blue cup with a purple straw, of course)

Go visit Muffin Tin Monday's guest host for today over at Junior Mints and Reese's. (Muffin Tin Monday is usually hosted by Michelle at Her Cup Overfloweth.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And, while you're blog browsing, go check out Make & Takes, a crafty blog for all of you creative gals! She's holding a giveaway to win a free blog design by Sherbert Blossom Designs! I just blogged about my need for a blog makeover yesterday, so I was definitely all in to win this wonderful giveaway!

returning to normal

Slowly I'm getting back into a routine...

The snow from the "Arctic Blast" has melted (except for the big piles you see in the parking lots) and the holiday madness has died down, so now I have no excuses but to get back into my normal way of living. That sounds so boring...it's really not that bad. I look forward to having a schedule again and feeling productive.

I'm crossing things off the list, getting housework done, and maintaining my organizing madness. However, I have yet to buy a 2009 calendar and am going crazy without one! Dates on sticky notes just don't work the same. You would think that if I was that desperate I would just start using my electronic PDA. There's just something about doing things the old-fashioned way sometimes.

To help trick my brain into setting up a normal weekly routine again, I thought I would start out the week with a muffin tin lunch we fixed last week to celebrate Muffin Tin Monday over at Her Cup Overfloweth. My last muffin tin consisted of goodies to decorate gingerbread men. Oh, I'm missing the Christmas season already!

I quickly realized after setting this heaping tin of food in front of my 2-year old that she was not going to manage eating it all. (I've got to get me a 6 cup muffin tin.)

Want to guess what got eaten first? Here's the order: pears, yogurt, one bite of cucumber, peaches, a "forced" bite of chicken nugget, 2 tator tots (she didn't even use the ketchup!), and the rest of the 15 minutes I was desperately trying to get her to finish her chicken. Since when do kids not like chicken nuggets? Truth be told, I only made her eat two because there's only so much a mom can take...nap time was in the horizon, you know?

I tried something new this time around and had a little treat hidden under a liner for when she was done with her lunch (after negotiation, of course). I found this idea a few months ago while blog browsing and thought it would be worth a shot. Her "surprise" was a piece of licorice broken into bits. Surprisingly, it didn't do much for the motivation factor, but I'll try it again.

top row: apple-water juice, the "surprise"
middle row: dino-shaped chicken nuggets, tator tots, ketchup
bottom row: peaches, pears, yogurt, cucumbers

Now, if I really was on top of things, I would have my menu planned for the week, as well. But that didn't happen yet again, so I'll be heading on over to Menu Plan Monday for some great meal ideas for the week! If only everything came so naturally.

muffin tin monday - the gingerbread baby

For this week's Muffin Tin Monday over at Her Cup Overfloweth, our theme was to do something that goes along with a Christmas story. I chose The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. This is actually a book we have around all year long, so Mikayla was familiar with its story. My last year of teaching I used this book for a writing lesson at Christmas time, so I was quite familiar with the story as well.

So, despite the busyness of the week in preparing to leave for California, I couldn't resist putting together a muffin tin so we could decorate gingerbread men (or babies). Plus, the kiddos deserved a little time with mommy (although I think Austin got the short end of the stick on this one).

~ our muffin tin ~

Top Row: coconut, red gel, black gel, mini M & M's
Middle Row: raisins, red hots, craisins
Bottom Row: green sugar, chocolate sprinkles, Christmas sprinkles, red sugar


Mikayla loves to bake...
she got a Christmas apron from Aunt Kristen
for an early Christmas present

hard at work...
if you look closely you'll notice some
evidence of missing candy on this little girl's face
death by candy...poor little gingerbread baby

We indulged in our baking after dinner, but with one bite of the head and a mixed reaction on the face of a 2 1/2-year old, I was quickly handed back the cookie and was told, "I don't like it." Nice. Now we have about 14 gingerbread babies that have been rejected by their maker. Hopefully they won't take it personal.

Next week's theme: Christmas shapes. The possibilities are already brewing...

Why do I participate in Muffin Tin Monday? Because it gives me the opportunity to do something fun and different when day to day life can get mundane. Try it! Just for something that will "shake things up" a bit. That's why I love this blogging world...it encourages me to do some different things. To stay creative and continue having fun in a household full of "daily duties".

don't give up on me!

I'm still here, wanting to blog so badly, but trying really hard to get things done in the next 6 days I have before my husband and I leave for Southern California. What? I didn't tell you that we are celebrating our 5-year anniversary with a trip to see the sites? Yes, we are being crazy and taking off a week during the busiest time of the year to enjoy many of the well-loved California attractions. Unfortunately, we are leaving our 1-year old munchkin and 2 1/2-year old princess behind, which is breaking my heart just talking about it. Part of me says, "what in the world are you thinking?" (please tell me my kids won't need therapy for us abandoning them) and the other part says, "this will be some much needed and enjoyed time with just your husband". We wanted to visit the Happiest Place on Earth during the most beautiful season...Christmas! Luckily, our kiddos will be in good hands with the grandparents and I'm sure the week will fly by quickly! Right? Please someone tell me the week will fly by quickly!

In the meantime, while I continue to cross off (and add) things on my list, here is a quick little post showcasing our Muffin Tin Monday hosted by Her Cup Overfloweth. There was no theme this week, but we were able to have TWO muffin tins this week. I don't know...I must have been on a roll or something!

apple slices, pizza bites, cucumbers, apples, more pizza bites, raspberry yogurt

YoGos, PB&J bites, veggie booty, grapes, more PB&J bites, Satsuma oranges (which, by the way, didn't go over too well with the toddler's tastebuds!)

Next week's theme is Christmas stories and you better believe I'm going to try my hardest to squeeze this one in before I leave! It sounds like too much fun! Wanna join me?

I do have some fun pictures of Mikayla swimming and our Thanksgiving with lots of cousins to share, not to mention a few fun holiday goodies, but this short post for today (very early today) will have to do for now. Let's hope I'll get a chance to break away from my list of things to do and stop back by here.