"One in a minion" Valentines 2014

This week has been a whole lot of fun, we have had a good bit of snow for our parts and playing with the kids was wonderful. So, at the end of it all we ended up doing our Valentines last minute and though this wasn't our original plan, it turned out pretty cute.

Minion sticks and baked sugar cookies... The cookies are always a hit when kids can help bake, at least my kids, they LOVE to bake. Also, they LOOOOVE Despicable me so we wanted to do something little to do with that too that they could help with and they really enjoy crafts. Of any kind!

Here are some photos of what we did, maybe it will give you an idea of something you can enjoy doing with your own children or do the same as we did! It was incredibly easy (except clean up lol)!

First we baked allot of sugar cookies, and yes I make home made sugar cookies and all but when baking with the kids we sometimes just choose the simple route and we did a cookie mix.

 
 

Next we made some adorable little minion sticks... "Your one in a minion" I wrote on it and they could help paint, put eyes on etc what ever you want to let the little ones help with. These self stick googly-eyes are great and I had everything needed on hand. All you need is a sharpie, large popsicle sticks, yellow paint and googly eyes! Minions have some crazy hair so just play with it with a marker and make some fun different faces.

Just throw them in a cute valentine goody bag and tie it up... Cute and easy!

We did little handmade tags with some yellow paper (for the minions) cut into hearts and just wrote the to/from on it!

Side Dish. 4 Vegi Saute.

This is the starter of my semi home-made vegi pasta sauce, used in my Vegi Zucchini Lasagna, however, it makes an awesome side dish, or a topper for baked chicken too.

Simple and wonderful!
1/2 large onion diced
1 yellow squash diced
1 small/medium eggplant diced
6 large mushrooms largely diced
5-6Tbsp Olive oil
garlic salt and pepper to taste (I usually do around 2tbsp garlic salt and about 1/2tbsp pepper but I eyeball it)
A variation would be to add a tablespoon of pesto or a tbsp of chili powder.

Saute all in a large pan until softened but not mushy, we like it to have texture.

Here are some photos to show prep and it finished.

 

Whats for dinner? Vegi Zuchinni lasagna

Well, I've been experimenting in the kitchen again. We will be feeding some people for a Valentine dinner soon with our church and aside from a regular lasagna I wanted to do a vegi one. No noodles, No meat.

As a first time doing this it turned out quite well, and, it was husband and kid approved too!

Ingredients
1/2 large onion, diced
6 large mushrooms, largely diced
1 medium yellow squash, diced
1 small/med eggplant diced
Garlic salt
Pepper
5-6Tbsp Olive oil
1 Jar Ragu chunky mushroom sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp sugar
16oz ricotta
4oz grated Parmesan
16oz shredded mozzarella (separate 8oz to top)
4Tbsp pesto
4 Zucchini, sliced long ways about 1/8inch thick

Directions: After you cut and prep onion, mushrooms, squash, eggplant place them all in a large saucepan with olive oil, garlic salt (I eyeball this but about 2 tbsp) and pepper to taste, saute until softened but not mushy you want this to be the texture in the sauce. Add sauce, diced tomatoes, and sugar and simmer over medium heat. Mix ricotta, 8oz of mozzarella, Parmesan, and pesto in a bowl together. Coat bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with butter and line with zucchini slices, top with ricotta mixture, then with sauce, repeat and then cover with the other 8oz of mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 35minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. NOTE****This doesn't section out all pretty and perfect but it does taste really good.

Here are some photos of the prep and cooking. Feel free to comment. Enjoy!

 

 

May not section out the prettiest but it is good!

Childrens Sunday School Lesson: Using music to praise God. DIY Harp.

Praising God,
With singing and with music.

Music is such a fun concept and past time for children; and, such an important part of praising God. We all have our favorite songs, teaching children to desire the right kind of music and using it to praise and glorify God can be allot of fun.

Psalm 92:1-5 kjv

92 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
⁴ For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
⁵ O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

Before starting a good conversation point (as I always like to prompt conversation with the kids in the beginning of class to give them a chance to talk before being quiet and a way to find fun in what we will be learning) is their favorite songs, instruments. Now, keep in mind that they might need coaxing and try to remind them of songs common in your church that they may know/like/sing.

Points to go over with children:

1-Music is good, something to be proud of and something to be used to glorify God. 
         -Singing in church, playing an instrument are wonderful ways to praise God. He wants us to praise Him with music!
2-Singing/Playing in church does not have to be perfect.
        -Something so hard for us to teach children is to not be afraid to get up on stage and sing or play an instrument, it's hard because often we are nervous or scared to do just that. Tell the kids that, that nerves bother adults too and that nerves are okay, not something to be ashamed of. Also, make sure they know that if they get up there to sing Jesus loves me and forget half the words that the EFFORT is what is important and what God asks us for. He never asks us to be perfect, He simply asks us to SERVE with a willing heart.
3-Everyone has different talents.
         -If a child doesn't seem to have a certain talent make sure they know that is okay and not something to be ashamed of. Each person, each child has a talent that they can explore and use to praise and glorify God.

CRAFT TIME:
Lets make a harp, one of the instruments mentioned in the scripture, a fun play "pretend" to remind the children of the lesson to use music and instrument to praise and give thanks to God.
  
What you need:
Card board (cake boards sold at walmart or craft store in cake section work great)
Large rubberbands (5 per harp)
Wooden dowel cut to about 5 inches
Hot glue gun

Cut board to shape of a harp, as seen in the photos (Not the best cut of card board but it works). After cutting the hole in the center place the wooden dowel at the top with hot glue gun (this serves to balance the rubber bands).  Pull rubber bands to fit around it and spread them out evenly. Let the kids strum and play pretend music. Using a sharpie write the Scripture on it as a reminder.

 

 

Annabelle's Princess Painting Birthday Party

 Today, I share with you our daughters princess/painting birthday party, what a blast it was. Well, to explain the obvious here, our Annabelle loves princess' and painting (ANY painting or crafts) so we combined the two and had a great party.

Here is a look thru photos of the decorations, cake and painting fun. (for privacy of the other kiddos and their families photos don't show them all)

Yes, I dressed up like Ariel, she loved it so it was worth it!

We had everything laid out and ready, aprons, brushes and palette, and everything (including floor under tables) covered with brown paper and pink duct tape... ummm, yes we anticipated messes with 18 toddlers and young children painting!

Loved this idea... Chalkboard (wood we painted with spray chalk board paint) and her age and fun questions/answers!

 

Now to show you the cake... And how it came to be, be sure to scroll down and see the finished product. It is simple and fun, Annabelle loved it and that is what matters!

 

 

 

 

Party favors were candy, princess sticker and command strips to hang their art work at home without messing up mommy and daddy's walls. The mini paint cans were an adorable touch. They can be found at... Oriental Trading

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We had a wonderful little play ground at the party location, of course that was a hit with the kids too!

Happy Birthday our Princess!

 **photos labeled were taken by my husbands cousin, Abby, with Charming Rose Photography. She did a wonderful job and we thank her so much!
**** Oriental Trading, if you haven't used them in the past, they have an awesome selection of party supplies, plates, decor, party favors etc. Visit them at Oriental Trading Home Page