mommypalooza™ ~ a daily dose of mommy mayhem.

{friday finds}: 02.10.2012

2012-02-10T08:00:00-06:00

This past weekend my sweet almost 8 1/2 year-old received a wonderful Light of Christ award that he's been working towards since the Fall as part of his Scouting.

But, don't let these sweet photos fool you. Although he's a sweet kid, he's still just a goofy 2nd grader.

Case in point:

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Yes, we ARE eating dinner this week!

2012-02-06T11:29:00-06:00

This past weekend I took a hiatus from doing a "Serve It Up Sunday" post. Unfortunately, I did not take a hiatus from actually attempting plan meals though.....so I still have to cook this week. The GOOD news is that since it's my birthday week (my actual birthday is on Friday the 10th, but I celebreate all week and month long), I won't be doing too much cooking. Plus, because of some great perks with some local peeps, I've gotten a hold of some cool tickets to a couple of events going on this weekend that the kids are going to be SO excited about! More on that later.

But, yes, we are actually eating dinner this week. Here's what's on tap:

Monday: Spaghetti

Tuesday: Crock pot BBQ Pork Ribs, chips, slaw or salad

Wednesday: Rosemary chicken tenders, rice, veggie

Thursday: Tacos, rice

Friday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! The kids are out of school but have jam packed schedules. They are both going to birthday parties that day and night (one is a sleepover), so not sure where I'll pick to eat at. We do plan on celebrating all weekend long though so it should be fun!

Saturday: More fun

Sunday: More fun

Have a great week, everyone!

{friday finds}: 02.03.2012

2012-02-03T09:50:29-06:00

I love everything about this Touchdown Taco Dip -- football, food, and creativity! {@ The Family Kitchen on Babble}

My kids are Jell-o freaks so I'm sure they'd LOVE this Strawberry Jell-o idea in their lunchbox every now and again. {@ Pint Sized Baker}

Cleaning bathrooms can be fun again with an idea like this -- make it easy by creating individualized bathroom kits to make cleaning a breeze. {@ Happy Canadian Home}

If you're planning a vacation soon {think: Spring break}, this vacation memory jar would make a fun project for when you return! {@ Echoes of Laughter}

This tropical smoothie has me thirsty! Check out how simple and yummy it is! {@ Decadent Philistines Save the World}

Hello February: Valentine Fruit Kabobs

2012-02-02T08:00:00-06:00

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My kids are celebrating their 100th day of school and have some fun stuff planned in their classrooms today. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to pack a little fun into their day, too!

This morning they came downstairs to this fun sign greeting them:

My kids adore signage. In fact, this was actually a good reminder to them about what today is and got them into a super-fun mood about being up at the crack for another day of school.

Last night I decided to throw a fun snack together for them to commemorate their 100th day of school, too.

It's 100 pieces consisting of 20 Honey Nut Cheerios, 20 raisins, 20 Alpha-Bits cereal letters, 20 mini chocolate chips, and 20 marshmallows. They were pretty excited and wanted to have it for breakfast. Um, no!

I also woke up a bit extra early today to get these ready for their lunches:

I told them to be on the lookout for something extra special in their lunch today and they kept guessing all these fun treats but I think they'll smile when they see their sandwich o'the day instead! They were quite easy. I just made the usual pb&j then used my biscuit cutter to cut out two circles and then took a paring knife and made a smaller round circle inside to make the hole of the zero. Then I used the rest of the bread to make the number one. They fit pretty nicely in their lunch trays. Also since today is February 1, I busted out the fun heart-shaped silicone cupcake holders I always use this time of year.

I can hardly believe it's already 100 days for my little Kindergartener! But, I AM SUPER excited that we are inching closer and closer to summertime!

Does your kids' school celebrate the 100th day of school? What kinds of ideas have you come across to share in the fun?

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Serve It Up Sunday: Unusual weather we're havin', ain't it?

2012-01-29T21:35:09-06:00

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Yes, I do so love the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz. But, I love this almost 70 degree weather we're expected to be blessed with at least one day this week even MORE!! God is finally listening to me!! I SO loathe the winter, cold, and snow. I am so very grateful for the mild winter we've had this season. I do know that the worst is probably yet to come since February (although it's my birthday month) is usually quite a depressing sight -- weatherwise, at least. But maybe, just maybe we can make it 29 days with no snow. Hmm....that'd be awesome!

You know what else is awesome? Meal planning when the weather is mild outside!! There are so many more options! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Here's what we're feasting on to celebrate this week:

Monday: Burgers grilled out, seasoned fries, deviled eggs.

Tuesday: Slow-cooked pot roast with potatoes and veggies, rolls

Wednesday: My oven baked chicken, rice, cheddar baked biscuits. (Bumped from last week since we went out for dinner instead).

Thursday: Tacos, Spanish rice.

Friday: Pizza or out.

Saturday: Out.

Sunday - Headed to a Superbowl party with friends (probably).

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A friend of mine who runs MommaCooks shared this fabulous recipe for cookies yesterday. As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, I noticed she posted it in celebration of National Peanut Butter Day so I decided -- what the heck -- I'll make these after lunch! I was also giddy that I had in fact packed my older two kids with pb&j sandwiches for lunch without even knowing it was a celebratory day for peanut butter. Extra gold stars for this mom!

So that's Jacob -- baking along with me and enjoying every minute! I was so glad the hubs was able to snap this pic and actually got not one, but BOTH of us smiling! It's moments like this that I know will be gone in an instant because in about five minutes he'll be starting Kindergarten.

Do you ever see those kinds of photos that just make you nostalgic for your kids' childhood? I have a feeling this will be one of them.

Now to the REALLY good part -- here is the fabulous recipe that we used (with just one sub) for the yummy cookies! By the way, I should mention that Nutella is practically a food group in my house. No lie.

Nutella Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

What you need:

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Nutella or other chocolate spread
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup instant/quick oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, Nutella, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Here's what they look like:

Needless to say, the cookies were kid-approved.

The orginal recipe for these cookies can be found here on the MommaCooks website.

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