Pebble Bugs

Morgan found another fun activity/craft in her Preschool Playroom magazine that we HAD to try! The instuctions called for pebbles from a beach, but being that we would have had to walk about 12 miles round trip to the nearest public beach, we decided we'd just get a few smooth rocks from our driveway. It worked out great! They're just a bit smaller than the ones in the magazine.

Morgan did all the initial painting, then I helped with the finishing touches-she LOVES them!

The Ladybug

The Bumblebee

The Spider (apparently climbing since it would only upload sideways-LOL!)

Photo Tag!

Michelle at Flying Giggles and Lollipops tagged me for a fun photo tag! If you have never been to Michelle's blog, please stop by! She always has some wonderful reviews and giveaways as well as great posts-many about her 2 beautiful little girls! :-)

Here are the directions...

1) Go to your photo files, select the 8th photo folder.

2) Select the 8th photo in that folder.

3) Post that photo along with the story behind it.

4) Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same!

This is one of the professional pictures I had taken of Morgan and Blake at Christmas last year. The photographer always has the kids pretend to blow a frog of her head, so they always have big smiles for their pictures! :-)

The lucky 8 I'm tagging ;-)...

1.) Alexia at The Mommy Rambles

2.) Alesha at The Jacobsen Family

3.) Alexis at Running Away? I'll Help You Pack.

4.) Debby at Just Breathe

5.) Wendy at A Day in Our Life

6.) Caroline at The Croley Gang

7.) Nancy at Southern Blessings

8.) Michelle at Michelle's Goofy Life

I hope you are all able to participate! :-)

Wordless Wednesday: Tulips!!

This is from a little over a week ago.

I took this picture of the tulips last year and edited it. I just love the soft colors!

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

A Weekend with Aunt Katie (K-Key)

Morgan and I spent this last weekend with my sister while her boyfriend was out of town visiting family. We visited a lot of parks and playsets and did a bunch of walking-mostly so Morgan could ride her bike on pavement (only dirt roads around here) and partially to take Katie's dogs for a walk. When we weren't visiting parks we were doing all of this:

Morgan taking an afternoon break on Aunt Katie's bed and watching a movie.

Helping Aunt Katie bake the most delicious brownies ever! (Zingerman's Magic Brownies)

Playing at the mall play area.

Getting Morgan's hair cut for the very first time (in nearly 4 years).

Making a Brown Sugar Puppy, named Fluffy, at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. (We don't have one of those within an hour or more of our home, so it was a fun one-time experience.)

Giving her new puppy a bath.

Morgan with her new puppy all dressed up!

It was a nice little weekend getaway. Thank you Katie, for letting us come visit! :-)

Make Something Monday: Chili Corn

A little while ago I signed up for a free cookbook from "Jiffy" mixes. When it came, I came across several recipes I wanted to try, but I only had all the ingredients for one of them and this was it:

Chili Corn

*1-1/2 lbs. ground beef (I used 1 ln because that's how it's packaged)

*1 pkg taco seasoning mix (reserve 1 tsp)

*1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed tomato soup

*2 cans (16 oz.) chili beans

Topping

*1 pkg. "JIFFY" Corn Muffin Mix

*1 cup cheddar cheese

*1 egg

*1/3 cup milk

*reserved 1 tsp. taco seasoning mix

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease 3 quart casserole dish.

In skillet, brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning mix, soup and chili beans. Let simmer while preparing topping. Combine topping ingredients, blend well. Pour meat mixture into prepared dish and spoon topping over meat mixture. Bake uncovered 15-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

**On a little side note, I wanted to mention that Jiffy mixes is based in here in Michigan and was actually a place we would have toured in Chelsea if they had been open the day we were there. They have an interesting history that I'd like to share:

"Chelsea Milling Company is operated by a family whose roots in the flour milling business date back to the early 1800’s. We have been milling flour here in Chelsea for over 120 years.

Mabel White Holmes, grandmother of our President, Howdy S. Holmes, developed and introduced to the homemaker the first prepared baking mix product, “JIFFY” Baking Mix, in the spring of 1930. Currently we offer 22 “JIFFY” Mixes. Our mixes provide you, our consumer, with the best value available.

Chelsea Milling Company is a complete manufacturer. We store wheat. We mill wheat in to flour. We use that flour for our own mixes. We make our own “little blue” boxes. We do it all-that’s why our mixes provide you with the best possible value. Value is using the highest quality ingredients and the best price!

Our entire operation is located in Chelsea, Michigan and our product is shipped out to all 50 states, as well as some foreign countries through the United States Military."

I love being able to purchase such a quality product from my home state and know that I am supporting the state's economy as well! :-)