dump truck lunch

I am busy planning a construction themed party for Simon in a few weeks. We're having an afternoon party, so I won't be serving sandwiches, BUT if I was going to I would make these ones. This was a very simple sandwich to make. I started by cutting off the crusts. My kids don't like them, and quite frankly, neither do I. I cut the sandwich about 1/3 of the way down, so that the dump part of the dump truck was a little bit bigger than the front part. I decorated the dump truck with leftover bits from the crusts- that I should point out, the children removed as soon as they received their sandwiches. I made wheels out of a sliced strawberry. The apple tree was made of green grapes, with the leftover bits from the strawberry wheels. The dump truck wouldn't be complete unless it was carrying a load of dirt though. I added a few chocolate chips to the dump truck, you know, to make it feel more authentic :)

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Tatertots and Jello

summer fun printable

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I know that I'm a bit early posting a summer project here, you know, since spring just started and all. BUT, this was one of my most viewed projects last year, and people are starting to check it out again. I added a few new activities to the list this year. Last years list had a date on it and wasn't very printer friendly. This year I wanted to make one that would be easy to print at home. I printed my list on cardstock, and mounted it (using mod podge) on a piece of foam board. Of course, this would be just as easy to pop in a picture frame and use a white erase marker to check off your activities. 

(I downloaded the digital tape from the Southern Stumble blog.)

We had so much fun checking off the activities last year. Many of them we did all summer long, like going to feed the ducks.

 We took the kids to the beach- which they loved!

 Made a clothesline tent. This will be the perfect spot for a lunchtime picnic this year.

 BUT, hands down, their favorite wanted.to.do.every.day.activity was the tin foil river. We bent the sides up on the foil, put the hose at the top of the foil and floated bottle caps down it. Save your bottle caps!

Don't these pictures make you want it to be summer RIGHT now?! I can't wait. So, what are you waiting for? Click here to download your list, and get ready for a summer of FUN!

If you like this list, leave me a comment and let me know what you're most looking forward to this summer.

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff  & Sun Scholars &  Skip to my Lou & Todays Creative Blog& Tip Junkie & Little Wonders' Days & Tatertots and Jello

fun Easter lunches: part 2

 Claire enjoyed the last lunches that I made for her so much, that I decided to try making a few more for her. She loved the butterfly lunch. I made a ham and cheese sandwich and then used a heart cookie cutter to cut out four hearts. Since I've recently discovered that Claire loves eating raw carrots with ranch dip, I served this lunch with carrot sticks. I used one stick for the middle of the butterfly. To make the antennas, I ran the carrot peeler down the edge of a carrot stick. Then I cut it in half to make the two antennas. The eyes are marshmallows cut in half with chocolate chip eyes (her favorite part of lunch). I used my small flower cookie cutters to cut the cheese, and then added carrot stick stems.

 

Claire liked her bunny sandwich so much that I decided to redo it in pancake form. This was so simple to make too! I just made two regular circle pancakes, and then cut them with my heart cookie cutter once they were cooked. I cut one of the hearts in half for the ears. I used marshmallows for the eyes, and teeth. I used a pink M&M for the nose. I did use the syrup do draw a smile, but it's hard to see in the pic. That doesn't really matter though, as soon as she sat down to eat she requested there be more syrup anyway!

Don't remember the first set of lunches I made? Check them out here.

Linking up with: Rust & Sunshine & Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Tatertots and Jello

Easter crackers

Everyone loves these crackers at Christmas time, so I thought that it would be nice to have some for the kids to do this Easter. It would look nice to have one at each place setting with Easter dinner. They didn't take very long to put together either.

Supplies needed:

crepe paper, the long wide sheets of it (I got mine at the dollar store)

crepe paper, regular streamer size (I used leftover streamers from Claire's party)

toilet paper rolls

decorative Easter stickers (I used foam ones)

double sided tape

toys (see next pic)

Easter jokes (I printed ones from the Happy Home Fairy, I love her blog!)

I just picked up a few things that I thought the kids would like in their crackers. Claire's obsessed with glitter glue, which means Simon loves it too. If you're making these with small kids (under the age of three) it's probably not a good idea to add the sponges that grow in water. I was supervising the kids with these, and they loved watching them grow.  It's not a cracker unless it's got a joke in it. So be sure to check out the ones that I used at Happy Home Fairy. I included a few chocolate eggs in each one as well.

They're so simple to make. Pick up one of each item, lay them on top of the joke, and then slide them into the toilet roll. Cut a sheet crepe paper to be about 12x17 inches. Roll the toilet roll up in the crepe paper, and place a piece of double sided tape to keep the crepe paper in place at the end. Then twist the ends of the roll. 

I embellished mine with leftover ruffled streamers from Claire's birthday, but they didn't really have the ruffled look that I was hoping for. To keep them ruffled, made them too loose, so I ended up pulling them tight. The moral of this is, don't worry about using ruffled streamers. You could just layer streamers, or use a piece of patterned paper. I added a foam sticker and that's it! 

These really would make a delightful addition to any Easter meal.

Linking up with: Six Sister's Stuff &  Skip to my Lou & Tip Junkie & Tatertots and Jello

Happy Birthday

Last night my sister (the best one in the whole world) surprised me with this birthday cake. She spent all afternoon working on it with her good friend Tammy. (For all of the locals reading this blog, you must check out Cakes by Tammy. She has made some of the cutest cakes I've ever seen.) 

 I love that my sister thought to design a birthday cake for me using my blog as her inspiration. One of my favorite crafts that I've done was my thumbprint Easter art from last year. I love that Jill and Tammy duplicated that design on the top of the cake. The whole cake is amazing- the cake has bunting on it!!! 

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family in my life.