Spider Pops

I saw these cute spider pops on familyfun.com and thought we'd make them for JJ's preschool class.  Jayden just loved them!

It went along nicely with Jayden's costume, since he was spider man.

Spiders

I took the kids to story time at the library and they read about spiders and then they made their own.  They were so cute!

They're Hung Up!

 I finally decided where to hang the things for my wall, the ones I made.  And Dave, my hero and hubby, hung them up for me!!

Thank you Dave!!!  I love seeing them on my wall!!!!!  He hung them with screws and made them harder to knock off.  I thought I'd use that 3M sticky stuff, but it made them stick out from the wall and I didn't like that.  So Dave came to my rescue and hung them up.  Aren't they beautiful!?!?

 I wanted to hang this on our brick above the part of the mantel that has all of our families, family pictures.  But I didn't want to put screws or nails in the brick and saw no other way.  The boys have knocked off and broken 2 of the frames I used to have above the couch and so I decided to put it above the couch and take down all those pictures.  And I love it!  And it's much harder to knock down then those pictures were.  

What do you think?

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Dave took both boys to the workshop this time around and I went to snap a few pictures.  Taggart and his daddy also went at the same time as Dave.  This week they made fire boats and they also had a fire truck and an ambulance there for the kids to tour. 

The tables are too wobbly and hard for the kids to hammer on so they all worked on the ground.

 Tanner did so well with the hammer.  He just loved hammering.  But once it was built and time to put the stickers on, he just wondered off and started playing in the shopping carts.

Jayden and Taggart

Jayden, Tanner and Taggart

Jayden's Scripture Bag

Jayden has loved carrying my scriptures around and has asked to take them to class with him, but I needed them so I didn't let him.  So we bought him his own.  He can't read yet so we debated whether or not to get him a whole set.  In the end we decided to just get him the Book of Mormon for now and if he still enjoys carry them around and pretending to read them, maybe we'll buy him the bible for Christmas.  So for now I made him a little bag to carry it in.  I wanted to do kid colors, but still appropriate for church.

It has a little pocket in the front for a pen and pencil.  I don't have a surger so I did a french seam on it which I think helps it stand up.  I also put batting in it to make it more sturdy.  I put batting in the handles but next time I will double it because they still seam flimsy.  It didn't need a button but I thought Jayden would really like it, so we did a small dinosaur that he picked out.

 

I finally finished it on the 6th but the first Sunday that it was finished he forgot them and we didn't get any pictures.  He was pretty upset that he forgot them too.

He loves taking his own scriptures to church!  And he'll sit there and look at the pictures and pretend to read it.  He does that at home too!  And I just love it!  He'll also open it and pretend to read out loud as he tells stories of Jesus that he's learned in primary or from us.  Just so cute!  And I love it!

Pasta Salad Pomodoro with Pepperoni

The pasta salad...  I first made this on Easter and have been asked to make it for every gathering since.  It's really good!

1/2 Package (8oz.) San Giorgio Trio Italiano, uncooked (I actually used a full box and kept the rest the same.)

1/3 Cup vegetable oil

1/4 Cup red wine vinegar or white vinegar

1 pkg. (6 oz.) Italian salad dressing mix or 2 teaspoons seasoned salt (I used a packet of Italian salad dressing mix but I think it was 7 oz.)

1 Cup chopped fresh tomato

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced

1 pkg (3oz.) sliced pepperoni, cut into strips (I used Hormel Turkey pepperoni, when I first made it on Easter I found these cute little tiny turkey pepperoni's but I haven't seen them in turkey since.)

1/4 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cook Pasta according to package directions.  Rinse with cold water to cool quickly; drain well.  In large bowl, stir together oil, vinegar and salad dressing mix; toss with cooled pasta and remaining ingredients except cheese.  Cover; refrigerate.  Stir and sprinkle with cheese before serving.

More Wall Art

I finished the project I was doing with the 8-inch squares.  Now I just need to figure out where and how to hang it.  I really want to hang it on my brick above the fire place because that is where I have all my family pictures (of my sister's family, sister in-laws family, etc.)  But I don't know how to hang it without permanently putting a hole in the brick.  Does anyone know how I could do that?  So if I don't hang it there then I'm not sure where to hang it.

So, what do you think?

I did this the same way I did the 6-inch squares.  Please see the "Getting Crafty" post.

Boredom Buster Block

I found a wooden 2 inch cube at AC Moore and decided to make a little Boredom Buster Block for my boys.  I chose 6 things they enjoy doing... Color, outside, cars, read, puzzles and games and found a picture to go with it.  I printed the pictures with the word to go along with it in 2 inch squares (I actually had to trim it a bit, so it was technically smaller than that.)  I sanded the block and glued them on using Mod Podge.  After about 20 minutes I Mod Podged over the whole thing twice, letting it dry in-between coats. 

Now when they are bored and don't know what to do they can roll the Boredom Buster Block and let it decide for them, or clean up the house.  :) 

Peach Crisp

Here is the yummy peach crisp I made!  The recipe is below!  Yum!!!

Peach Crisp

Ingredients For Filling: 

•  8 cups fresh sliced peaches (free stone peaches)

•  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

•  1/4 cup sugar

•  2 teaspoons flour

Topping: •  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

•  3/4 cup sugar

•  1/2 cup light brown sugar

•  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

•  1/2 teaspoon baking soda

•  1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

•  Dash of fresh grated nutmeg

•  3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

•  1 large egg

Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and gently mix.

Pour the filling ingredients into a 9 by13-inch baking pan and set aside while 

making the topping.  In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, 

baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in the butter until the mixture 

resembles large peas. Stir in the egg. Distribute the topping evenly over the 

peaches in the baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

Savory Peach Chicken

The boys and I picked 69 pounds of peaches on Friday.  On Saturday Becky came over and showed me how to can some.  We canned 7 quarts that night.  Then on our anniversary night Dave and I canned 7 more quarts.  They had to be done, we lost about 5 from mold.  Dave wasn't too thrilled to be canning on anniversary.  Maybe next year I won't pick peaches until after our anniversary.  We washed and put the rest in the fridge.  So I made a very yummy peach crisp!!!  I made a cobbler on Saturday and this crisp was way better, especially with vanilla ice cream.

I also made a Savory Peach Chicken.  I made rice and french cut green beans to go along with it.  I thought it was wonderful!!!

Savory Peach Chicken

Ingredients •  1 tablespoon canola oil

•  4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, about 1 1/4 pounds

•  1/2 teaspoon salt

•  1/4 teaspoon pepper

•  2 tablespoons brown sugar

•  2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

•  2 tablespoons rice vinegar

•  1/4 cup orange juice

•  1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

•  2 cloves garlic, minced

•  1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

•  4 large firm-ripe peaches, cut into 1/4-inch slices, or 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen peaches, (about 4 1/2 cups)

•  2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Directions Heat the oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, add to the skillet and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Meanwhile combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and orange juice in a small bowl and set aside. When the chicken is browned, transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, the soy sauce mixture, and the peaches to the pan. Turn the heat up to high and cook, uncovered, for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce is nicely thickened and the peaches soften. Add the chicken back to the pan with the sauce, turn the heat down to moderate-low, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

In the meantime, toast the almonds in a dry skillet over a medium-high heat stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Serve the chicken topped with the sauce and sprinkled with the toasted almonds.

Yield: 4 serving, 1 piece chicken, 2/3 cup sauce and 1/2 tablespoon almonds per serving

Butterfly

I was walking the camera back to the car after I took some pictures of the boys swimming when I saw a butterfly on the butterfly bush at Becky's.  So I quickly stopped to snap a few pictures before it flew away.  These were my favorite.  It was like 7:30 at night and in the shade of the house, but I think they aren't too bad.  What do you think?

In the picture below, look at his wings, there is some of it missing... poor little thing!

So I also snapped a few pictures of her other flowers.  I love this sunflower.  There were 2 pedals that were torn off and I fixed it in photo shop.  Can you tell which 2 they were?  ( I have the vertical picture of it with the stem and leaf, I like it a little better, but I didn't fix the pedals on that one, so I posted this one.)

Rockets!

Here are the builders with the Rocket Launcher and their rockets...

The boys picked out their own colors for their rockets and they love them!

Here they are launching their rockets...

Below JJ is in the air as he jumps on the rocket launcher.  He's trying to hit me with his rocket and this may be the one where he got me in the shoulder.

Does it look like they love their rockets?

The original directions say to use a soda bottle, which we did.  However after taking these pictures we changed it.  It was hard for the boys to blow the bottle back up.  We have to 2 exercise balls that came with foot pumps.  Dave took one of those foot pumps and put that their instead and it works much nicer because the boys don't have to blow it back up.