Friday Five!

Tomorrow is the LAST day of school before Spring Break starts!  I for one am so happy to have a week with my two favorite boys...so, here's my Friday Five (Spring Break style)!

Five reasons why we're ready for Spring Break in this house:

1.  No morning alarms!  For the next 9 days, no one in this house will be setting an alarm clock...pure bliss :)

2.  No drama!  I absolutely love my job (and I love teaching high school students), but I'm happy to say that I'm going to have a week off from all the teenage drama that circulates the halls!

3.  Benners!  For the next 9 days, it's going to be me and my Benners (oh yeah, Andy will be there too...just kidding honey).  I'm looking forward to lots of play time with my little guy.

4.  Easter...looking forward to spending Easter with my family and with Andy's family.  We'll be spending it as "one big family" at my parent's house.

5.  6 more weeks...until Summer Vacation!  Spring break marks the half-way point of the third trimester.  Not that I'm counting down, but I'm counting down...bring on summer, sunshine, the pool, and fun!

Click here to see what we did last spring break...brings back good memories!  Looking forward to making some great ones this year!

Friday Five from Ireland!

In honor of St. Patty's Day, I decided to do this week's Friday Five over Ireland.  The awesome part of this, is that my husband actually WENT to Ireland this week, so these are all pictures that he took! 

Unfortunately, I didn't get to go, but Ben and I have been "visiting" Ireland through his pictures and through Skype (that is such a wonderful invention...especially for this mommy of a 2 year old, who "weally, weally misses his daddy").

I'm sure we'll have more pictures on here later, but I wanted to share a few with you today!

 Just a small part of the group at the Cliffs of Moher

 Cliffs of Moher

 Inside of a cathedral

 One of the farms they visited

One of the towns they stayed in

Friday Five (or maybe six)

This week has been a crazy one at school...there were three fights in one week!  Drama, drama, drama is all I can say.  Hopefully the students will realize that fighting is not a way to solve anything, and even more so, I hope they'll realize that what they are often fighting about is very trivial.  It only takes a few minutes of watching the news, reading a newspaper, or talking with a neighbor to realize that your own problems are often very minimal compared to those around you.

So, this week's Friday Five is actually six pictures (there were just too many to choose from) all centered around the theme of friendship!  I know I need a pick-me-up after this week :)

Friday Five

Number 1 - Thank goodness for barbers!
A couple of weeks ago, I thought I could give Ben a haircut.  It was a Sunday afternoon, and I didn't feel like going in to town just to get his hair cut, but it was REALLY bothering me how shaggy he was looking.  Needless to say, I am NOT a barber, nor should I ever be one!  Thank goodness he only had to have a bad haircut for a few days, until he and Daddy could get in to see the real professionals!  I don't have any pictures of my handy work (that did not need to be documented), but here's a picture of his new haircut.  You'll probably notice it's much shorter than normal...it had to be to fix all of the mistakes that I made! :)

Number 2 - Spring is in the air...
If you're anything like me, you're being bombarded with gardening catalogs right now.  I'm definitely getting the itch to get out in my flowerbeds and start planting my vegetable garden.  Of course, it's too early yet to do much, but I did find a great website that tells you what vegetable plants are companion plants (which ones to plant next to each other), and which plants are enemies.  You can find the article here.

Number 3 - Lessons in the Kitchen
Last week I was looking for an idea to keep Ben busy while I made dinner.  I put all of my pots and pans with lids out in the kitchen...separating the lids from the pans.  Then, Ben went to work putting them all back together.  A little lesson in the kitchen :)

Number 4 - For all the quilters out there...

I can't take credit for this, I'm not a very good quilter.  But, my friend Sarah has a grandma-in-law who is a great quilter.  She made Sarah one of these quilt squares a few months ago, and as soon as I saw it, I asked Sarah is she thought Barb would make one for me.  She said yes, and now I have a wonderful memory of Ben's childhood!  That's Ben's handprint on there...so sweet, and something I'll cherish forever!!!  Thank you Barb!

Checking it out!

Number 5 - Another idea for toddlers

I found this idea at this from Stephanie Klein's website, which you can find here.  As the daughter of a painter, I've seen my fair share of paint chips throughout the years.  This is a great idea to work on color recognition, matching skills, and fine motor skills.  All you need are some paint chips, clothes pins, and some glue!

Friday Five

Welcome back for week three!  Hope you all had a great week, and are gearing up for your weekend.  I know we are!

Number 1 - www.grooveshark.com
If you haven't found this website yet, check it out.  You can create playlists, listen to any type of music you like, and the best part...it's FREE!

Number 2 - Individual Mixed Berry Crisps
Another delicious Weight Watcher recipe...each serving is only 5 points!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 T. Splenda
4 c. frozen mixed berries, do not use strawberries (I used red raspberries and blueberries)
2 t. instant tapioca, uncooked
3 T. uncooked rolled oats, do not use quick-cooking or steel-cut oats
2 1/2 T. flour
2 T. packed brown sugar
2 t. maple syrup
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease four small ramekins.  In a large bowl, combine berries, Splenda and tapioca; evenly divide among ramekins

Add remaining ingredients to same bowl and stir until crumbly; evenly divide this mixture over fruit.  Bake until brown and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Number 3 - Lenten Reflections
A great place to find bible readings and daily reflections for the Lenten season can be found at www.boilercatholics.org/lent. 

Number 4 -While we're on the subject of Lent...
I thought I would revisit one of my favorite posts (posted way back in 2010), titled Lent and the Sippy Cup.  Two years later, and I still find myself struggling with what to do for Lent, but continually trying to render my heart to the Lord.  You can read the post here.

Number 5 - Leap Year 2012
In honor of leap year, I thought I would post a cute craft that I found on Disney's Family Fun website, which you can find here...Fly-Catching Frogs!

Friday Five

Wow!  We're going for two weeks in a row...a big accomplishment for me!  I had a lot of fun this week "collecting" five ideas/recipes/etc that I found interesting, and I hope that you'll find something useful from the post!

Number 1 - Pajama Walks
I can't take credit for this, I actually found it in my Parents magazine this month.  It was in their article titled "Savor the Moments", which talked about focusing on the moments you have with your children because we all know they go way too fast!

One thing I didn't realize - there are only 940 Saturdays between a child's birth and their start of college...and by age five, 260 are already gone!

One way they suggest to capture the moment, is to finish supper, get the kiddos bathed, brush teeth, put on their pj's, bundle them into the stroller (or put on comfy shoes), and head out for a evening stroll.  Take the time to talk about your day with the older children, or just enjoy the babbles and chatter of your younger tots...no matter what you discuss, it will be a nice way to finish up the evening and wind down as your little ones prepare for bed.

I'm now looking even more forward to warmer weather!

Number 2 - Turkey Enchilada Pie
We made this Weight Watcher recipe last night, and it was really good.  I enjoy cooking with ground turkey, and love finding new ways to use it.  Give this one a try, you'll like it! 

Ingredients:
3/4 lbs. ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 t. chili powder
3 T. flour
1 c. skim milk
4 oz. canned jalapeno peppers, drained and chopped
1/2 t. ground cumin
3 large tortillas
3 c. fresh tomatoes, chopped (I used canned from the garden, and just drained off the juice)
10 T. fat free shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Place turkey, onion and chili powder in skillet and cook until turkey is browned.  Remove turkey mixture from skillet and set aside.
• Place skillet over medium-high heat and add flour.  Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium; simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat; stir in turkey mixture, jalapenos and cumin.
• Place one tortilla in bottom of a 9-inch prepared pie plate.  Spread 1/3 of turkey mixture over tortilla.  Spoon one cup of tomato on top and sprinkle with 4 T. cheese.  Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.  
• Cover pie plate with foil and cook until cheese melts and filling is warmed through, about 15 minutes.  Let stand, covered, two minutes before cutting into six wedges.

Six servings - 5 points/serving

Number 3 - Lenten Sacrifice Activity for Kids
Lent is right around the corner...Ash Wednesday is February 22nd!

Every year, since I was a child, I've struggled with what to "sacrifice" for the Lenten season. I know Ben is too young to fully understand what the Lenten season means, but I want to start bringing it to life for him.  I came across this idea on a Catholic website for kids; catholic icing (you can find it here).

Even if you're not Catholic, this would be a great idea for kids to begin learning about Lent and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us...

the greatest sacrifice of all.

The idea is to have your child fill a box with toys that are special to them...something that would be a sacrifice to give up until Easter.  Put the lid on and label it with a note that says "Goodbye for Lent...see you at Easter!"  Tuck it away, out of sight, and bring it out on Easter!

What a great way to start teaching children about the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the great joy of everlasting life that comes through Him.

Number 4 - The best crib/toddler sheet I've ever found!
Pottery Barn Kids carries the best crib sheet.  I received one at my baby shower, and Ben has slept on nothing else since.  I love these sheets so much, that it is my standard gift for new babies!  Just thought I'd share one of my baby favorites :) 

They're called chamois sheets, and the great news is that they are available from cribs to queen size beds! 

Number 5 - Dreaming of Summer!

 All this weird weather (wind, snow, rain, fog) has me dreaming of summer sun and fun!

Friday Five

While I was getting in my daily dose of Pinterest, I stumbled across a great blog and decided to start something new.  Every Friday (ok, those of you who know me know that this probably won't happen EVERY Friday) I'm going to post a Friday Five...five things that I found, tried or just liked during the week!  Here is this first batch!

Number One - www.stacyjulian.com
This is the blog that gave me this idea, and below is the game that I found for our Valentine's Day party this weekend.  It's a "minute to win it" game for kids, and I'm hoping they'll have a lot of fun with it!

 
Number Two - www.pinterest.com
My newest addiction.  I have found so many ideas on this website, and I'm sure most of you are already members...if not, let me know and I'll send you an invite!  This is just one of the many, many ideas I've "pinned"!

Number Three -  www.picnik.com
I use this website for quick and easy photo editing.  It's moving to google+ in April, so from now until then, all of the photo edits are free to anyone.  I'm not sure what it will be like on google+, but I'll just keep using it until it closes.

Number Four - www.rookiemoms.com
I just recently found this blog, and so far, I love it!  These two ladies are a wealth of knowledge on everything baby/toddler/school age!  So many craft ideas, recipes, games, etc.   Check it out if you get a chance!

Number Five - Just a cute random picture...you didn't think I'd do a blog post without a picture of my little guy, did you???