Lunchtime Creativity

Yes, I am addicted to Pinterest.  Well, not to the point that I sit on it day after day, going through pins.  I have a set time each week that I can visit Pinterest and get some creative ideas.  This "lunchtime creativity" I found a while back was perfect for a cold day.  It gave Hunter and Paizlei something fun to do, and got them involved in preparing meals.

 I sliced the hot dogs and the kids helped me thread uncooked spaghetti noodles through each hot dog.  I discovered through much trial and error (if there is such a thing in a meal like this!), 6 spaghetti noodles is the perfect amount for each hot dog slice.  The kids did get frustrated a couple times because the spaghetti would break, but we would just thread them through like it was nothing.

 An close-up shot of the hot dogs with the spaghetti noodles threaded all the way through.  Once they were all threaded, I dumped them in a pot of boiling,  unsalted water.  I didn't salt it, because hot dogs have enough sodium in them.  I let them boil for about 12 minutes...it takes longer because of the hot dogs.

Once the spaghetti noodles were soft enough, I drained them, put them back in the pan and but a little spray butter on them, mainly for a little flavor.  I also cute up some grape tomatoes and topped with Parmesan cheese.

My kids LOVED it!  They wanted seconds.  Definitely something we will be making for lunch again.  HUGE recommendation for anyone with kids!  They will LOVE it.

Sidewalk Paint FUN

Today, I was looking on Pinterest at some things that would be fun for kids, and ran across a recipe for homemade sidewalk paint.  GENIUS!!!!  My kids LOVED it!  They loved playing in it, getting dirty, making shapes, doing hand and foot prints.  Such an easy, cheap and SUPER FUN thing for the kids.  When we were all done playing, to wash it all off, we filled up the swimming pool.

I made it in Mason jars, then poured it in to something that would be easy, and unbreakable for the kids.  Tummy Ticklers/Belly Washer (kid drinks, for those who don't know what they are) bottles are PERFECT!!!  We made blue, yellow and green.  We used up all the green.  The best thing about this, you can store it in the refrigerator, pull out in the morning of the day you want to use it, bring it to room temperature, and shake it to mix it back up, because it separates.

Paizlei's little hand prints.

Hunter's little hand prints.

Mommy's hand print!  I had to join in on the fun.  This stuff is so soft, it feels good on your hands. :p

Their dirty little feet after doing footprints. 

Such determination and concentration to get the paint off his hands.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this photo of my Hunter.

"That you hand, Mommie!"

All you Mommies that read my blog, seriously, do this for your kids.  They will have a blast, as will you!!!  And the best part, it is so cheap, and you can make as little or as much as you want, because it is such a simple 1 part to 1 part recipe.

4th of July Celebrations

Our 4th of July this year was pretty low key.  We didn't do a whole lot since Zane had to keep the outlaws in line.

We started our celebrations off on Friday night, where we went to watch the fireworks put on by Gunnison City.  For a small town, they do a pretty good show. It's no Stadium of Fire, which I have absolutely missed going to BTW...one day, I will get my family there, it's such an amazing show, not just the fireworks, but the whole program.  Grandma and Grandpa Black joined us for the fireworks.  It was a good time.  Hunter and Paizlei LOVED the fireworks...Hunter was so drawn to them and had his attention, which is usually a hard one.

 Me and my Two Favorites!  Yep, I LOVE these two!

 "YAY!!!"  As you can tell, she was so excited when the fireworks started.  Priceless!

Hunter had to sit with Grandma Black...  Both Hunter and Paizlei's faces are PRICELESS in this photo!!!

Saturday morning my Mom came down to go to the parade with us...us meaning, me and the kids.  Again, Zane was keeping the outlaws in line.  It was actually a pretty good parade.  Hunter got bored with it really quick, which isn't a big surprise.  Paizlei was having the time of her life.  the people that were sitting next to us, kept having her go get all their candy.  So, we came home with 2 grocery sacks FULL of candy, airplanes, glow sticks, bouncy balls...and, they are both still sitting on top of my refrigerator.  Zane has gone through both bags and got out the salt water taffy, tootie frooties, Dots, and tootsie rolls out.

 Hunter getting a love from his Grandma Young!!!  For quite a while there, Hunter was afraid of my Mom, and all the sudden he has taken a shine to her.

 My little poser!  I kept trying to get him to put his hand on his heart, however, he didn't quite understand.  All Paizlei wanted to do, was play with the dang stroller.

 Zane's cousin Jared is a pilot...he flew over the parade route a few times.  Hunter absolutely LOVED it.  Thank you, Jared!!!

And, 'Mater' even made an appearance in the parade.  The black dodge behind 'Mater' was pushing it.  It was quite funny.

After the parade, we went to the park to see what concessions and carnival games they had.  Hunter remembers a few years ago when they had a gold fish pond.  He was really hoping he would be able to catch some fish with his hands.  However, they didn't have one.  Instead, he got to go golfing, do a ball toss and they both got to go in a bounce house.  Hunter LOVED the bounce house.

 His Uncle's Troy and Mike would be SO PROUD of him!  He actually made a whole-in-one and was so proud of himself!  He got to pick out a BIG prize from that BIG box you see on the left side of the picture.

Paizlei, as you can see, didn't quite get the jist of the ball toss.  The 2 gals manning the game thought it was so hilarious how she just walked up and put the ball in the milk jug.  After Paizlei put the ball in the milk jub, she turned around and said, "YAY! Waysee Mae did it, see!"  It was too cute!!

Saturday evening after Zane got home from work, we had our awesome friends, the Powell's over for dinner.  We LOVE spending time with the Powell's!  Right after Zane and Chad graduated from POST, we always had them over for BBQ's.  It had been a while, and Bri and I had been trying to plan another get together, but the guys work opposite days, so when Zane is on his 4 off, Chad is working his 4 on.  However, it worked out perfect, because Chad took some time off for the 4th.

After our little BBQ, we did fireworks.  I'm pretty sure, that's what the kids were more excited for.  Hunter was mesmerized by one of them.

 My GORGEOUS baby girl!!!  She was so stinkin' tired, I'm surprised she didn't fall asleep watching the fireworks.

It's kind of hard to see Hunter's silhouette...I thought this was a super neat picture of Hunter with his sparkler.  He was a little timid with them at first and didn't want to touch them, but after he saw the Powell kids with them, he decided it was okay.

 My dirty little ladybug didn't want nothing to do with the sparklers.  All she wanted to do was watch, being so tired didn't help matters either.

 Braedon P...he is such a cute young man!!!

One of our exciting fireworks!  Bri is behind the firework getting a picture of it with the kids opposite her...should've thought about that too, I guess.  Oh well, we will swap each other's photos.

All In The Kitchen

As many of you know me, you know that I love to be in the kitchen.  After visiting and reading many blogs friends and strangers have started about their "works of art" in the kitchen, I have decided to start a blog of my own featuring my "works of art" in the kitchen.

  

You can view it by going to http://allinthekitchen2.blogspot.com.

(I should note, this blog is a PUBLIC blog as opposed to our family blog.)

I am really excited to start this new blog and I welcome any and all comments.