Mother's Day card

Mother's Day has come and gone, but I thought I would share this card that I made for the really awesome moms in my life.   I found the inspiration for this one here via Pinterest. 

I used my mypaperpumpkin mother's day stamp that came with April's box and Stampin Up's Banner Blast stamp set that I stamped and then punched out using the coordinating punch.  I added a little sticky diamond embellishment thingy (that's a technical term, I'm sure!) to the flower.  The baker's twine and coral paper actually came from the dollar spot at Target a few months ago.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!  Thanks for reading my blog!

Thursday thoughts (because I didn't do it on Monday)

Can I be honest with you?  I hope so.  It's hot here.  I mean really hot.  I am thankful for air conditioning and ice. . . seriously.   When it's hot I just don't feel like doing anything.  Really. Nothing at all.  It's bad.  I'm not even fixing dinner tonight.  Sandwiches and leftover hot dogs.  See the creativity going on here is awesome

But, despite the heat and my lack of motivation, I am feeling compelled to sit here and write, share, and just be real.

It's National Cookie Day and it's 100 degrees outside.  I think I should make cookies, but not sure if it's worth heating up the house.  We've eaten through most of our flash frozen cookie balls, so it's time to restock.  I should probably bake some up.  I will probably make these cookies because I haven't made them in awhile.

Today is also National Hummus Day and while I am not going to be making any hummus today, I did make some on Saturday.  This recipe is probably my new favorite recipe!  I can't wait to make it again!

I am making plans to keep my kids busy this summer.  I am super excited about Regal's summer movie list and am thinking we will be there every week.  I am also thinking kinetic sand, and a few other things.  I've been pinning ideas like crazy.

Our neighbor wants to re do our fence, which is great.  He just hasn't told us when (it's leaning terribly!).  I really want to put up an outdoor chalkboard and am seriously ready to put it up and then take it down.  We will see how that goes.

I am also working on getting our Letter of the Week stuff ready for Weston come mid August.  I am determined to be very organized this next school year.  (we will see how long that lasts!).

And finally, the kiddos are getting some grandma and grandpa time this weekend, which leaves plenty of time for a weekend of dates with my husband. . . and maybe some sewing time.  My sewing machine has been feeling lonely lately!

And one more last thing. . . I saw this going around Facebook this week and it made me laugh and cry and wonder if they were spying on my children.  Click it and watch it.  It's worth  your time.  (I may note: that I am NOT sick of Frozen yet and we listen to it on repeat in our car daily).
Happy clicking!

Teacher Appreciation Wrap-Up

I may have been secretly looking forward to Teacher Appreciation Week all year long.  I've been trying to do little things here and there for Ethan's teacher and teacher's aid, but the actual week designated for appreciating our child's teacher is a great way to honor them.

Before I was a mom, I was a teacher.  I had the opportunity to have experiences in both the public and private sector of education and I enjoyed both.  I can honestly say that your child's teacher LOVES your child, whether you think so or not.  They put countless hours in and out of the classroom doing things to make your child's learning experience great.  They are unpaid for the most of this.  They are constantly planning, researching, and learning new things.  They are also under so much pressure between school politics and classroom management.  And one of the most amazing things, is often, your child's teacher has their own family and life outside of the classroom (yep. . . they don't LIVE in the classroom).  Yet, I can't tell you how many times, teachers are disrespected and treated unfairly by parents.  Teacher's need parent support.  They need our encouragement and that's why this is something so important to me.

I honestly believe that by encouraging our child's teacher, it makes for a better classroom experience for them.  It helps their teacher be a better teacher.  It doesn't have to cost a lot of money, either.  I did something each day last week, and I spent less than $10 the whole week.  That includes gifts for both the teacher and the teacher's aid.

This was my most expensive gift, that I saved for Friday.  I printed off the tags from here.  All I did was print out the tags and cut out Ethan's hand on some cardstock (ours was some glittery scraps left over from a previous project).

Popcorn.  I popped some popcorn and made muddy buddy popcorn,which took less than 10 minutes and so tasty!  I printed out the tag from here.

Muffins were super easy since I was already making them for my family.  You can go here to print the tags.

These were easy and fun bookmarks to make.   I will post a tutorial soon.  :)

And finally, we started out the week with chocolate!  Ethan's teacher actually had a migraine that day and ate hers for lunch. I printed out the customizable cover from here.  

Has teacher appreciation come and gone at your child's school?  These will make great end of the year gifts.  

Let's honor the teacher's that love on our children and teach them every day!  

It's Teacher Appreciation Week!!!! {Free Printable}

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week!  It is so much fun to see all the ways you can honor your child's teacher through Pinterest or just by doing a Google Search (click it. . . I dare you!).  We put together small gifts for each day of the week, which I will be sharing on Friday.  But, I wanted to share this one, really quick so you can use it before the week is over.

I found an idea on Pinterest that I absolutely loved.  But every time I clicked on the link, I couldn't find it.  It literally no longer existed.  Plus, I really liked the muffin idea, because I was already baking up some muffins for my family, so it was perfect for a gift.  So, I created one of my own so that I could print it out and share with you.

The cool thing about this printable is that you don't have to use it for a teacher.  Need to tell someone that you appreciate them. . . a friend, a co-worker, a nurse. . . anyone.  It works for just about anyone.  I dare you to make some muffins (or just go buy some muffins at Costco or Sprouts) and bless someone this week!

You can go here to print it out. 

DIY Cinnamon Roll Pop Tarts

Cinnamon Rolls in any form are a common occurrence in our house.  Probably for two reasons: 

1.  They are good.  

2.  It's pretty much a guarantee that both my kids will eat them and that makes this mamma very happy.  

I posted about our cinnamon roll obsession a few months ago, if you want other cinnamon roll recipes, but I really like this one because it is so easy and they freeze incredibly well.  Everything is easy about them. . . and even easier if you stock them in your freezer for a Monday morning when your youngest decides to wake up at 5:30 to start his day (true story).   These bake in the oven while you get ready and you can even eat them as you walk out the door, depending on how quickly you need to leave.  We ate them at the table, with some time to spare.  That was great! 

I didn't use measurements.  This is definitely a winging it recipe, so go with what you like.  In a large cereal bowl stir together some cinnamon, white sugar, and brown sugar.  In a smaller bowl, melt a stick of butter. 

Roll out some pie dough.  You can make your own. . . or you can be lazy like me, and buy some good old Pillsbury pre-made dough.  I usually roll it out a but thinner than the traditional circle.  That way you can get more out of it.  I use this tool to cut out my rectangles, but you can use any square or circle cookie cutter you want.

Brush your rectangle with a light coat or melted butter.  You don't want it soupy, you just want enough to make the two pieces stick, and make a creamy sugar mix in the middle when they bake.

Spoon some sugar mixture over the top, keeping it mostly in the middle.

Cover it up with another matching rectangle.  It's okay if it doesn't look pretty. . . it's going to taste amazing!

If you are using the press, then press the sealer over the top and it will do the hard work for you.  If you don't have this tool, then I recommend, taking a fork and sealing it all the way around with it.

Stick on parchment paper and bake.   Your house is going to smell so good!  While they are in the oven, mix some powdered sugar, milk, and a bit of cinnamon in a bowl until you get a nice, thicker glaze to spread on your baked pop tarts.

Ok, these look amazing and I am kind of wishing we had some right now for me to eat.  Bummer.  As soon as they get out, spread some glaze over the tops and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Then, you eat. They are so yummy!


Cinnamon Roll Pop Tarts
by outoftherightbrain

Ingredients:
pie crust
1 stick of butter
cinnamon
sugar
brown sugar
powdered sugar
cinnamon
milk

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine cinnamon, brown sugar, and white sugar in a cereal bowl.  Set aside.
Roll out pie dough to desired thickness.
Punch out dough with press or cookie cutter.  Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture.
Top with another cut out and seal according to package directions or with a fork.
Bake for about 10-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Mix together 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a couple of splashes of milk.
Spoon over warm pop tarts and let cool until safe to eat.

These are great frozen.

Catching Up & keeping it real

I'm still here.

I'm not sure where the past 2 weeks have gone, but getting back into a routine after a week off is hard work.  I blame it on the heat. . . we are working our way closer to triple digits.  It's how we welcome the month of May.

I realized yesterday that I hadn't made cookies for my husbands lunches. . . he told me not to worry about it because the week was almost over.  Oops!

I made this cake for Jon's Birthday/Easter.  I couldn't remember the recipe for the original white cake part, so I made the one on the original blog post for the frosting.  It was so good!!!!  The white cake was sooo much better than store bought cake mixes.  It was perfectly spongy and moist!  Definitely a keeper for any white cake!

I've also been mopping with my new steam mop.  I may be in love.  Who knew one could love mopping so much!  My house is much cleaner thanks to my new found friend.  

I've been ironing fabric, cutting fabric out, stamping, and scrapbooking.  Let's just say that I am finding lots of ways to stay busy.  

I am also working on VBS food for our church's Vacation Bible School.  I won't lie.  Planning food for over 500 is a bit intimidating.  

Today, I took advantage of cool breeze and walked around one of our local shopping areas with the Littlest little.  We treated ourselves to Jamba Juice and did some shopping.  It was a great day!  I may be hot and sweaty now because when we went to pick up Ethan from school, it was 90 degrees!!!!  Hello May!  Tonight I get to go out to dinner with some fantastic ladies.  I am ready.  Well, I will be once I get out of my yoga pants!

I do have some yummy recipes to share with you. . . so of which were blog posts that I intended to write over the past 10 days.  Yep. . . never happened.  You should see them soon!  I promise!