Muffin Tin Monday

There was no theme this week for Muffin Tin Monday so we finished up some leftovers.

Emily enjoyed the Butternut Squash soup we made for Thanksgiving.

  Top Row: Grapes, Ranch dressing, Cucumbers

Bottom Row: Artichoke dip on crackers and Butternut Squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 tart green apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp marjoram
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 slices stale bread
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

In a large pot over medium high heat, simmer all ingredients except the cream, covered for 45 minutes.  Puree in a blender or food processor, 2 cups at a time.  Return puree to pot.  Stir in cream and heat to just below boiling.

You can make ahead and freeze without adding cream.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Thanksgiving Preparations!!

Emily and I baking Pumpkin Gobs, while Butternut Squash Soup simmers on the stove!!

Kids in the Kitchen ~ Caramel Popcorn

I LOVE Caramel popcorn and decided to try making it for the first time with Emily.  This is also the first time that Emily has had popcorn so she was really excited to help make it and enjoyed trying it.  She liked watching it pop, but said the plain popcorn was to dry.  Caramel coated popcorn on the other hand was delicious and she probably would have eaten it all if we let her!

I changed the recipe a little so here is how we made ours:

Caramel Popcorn

First, I preheated the oven to 250 degrees.  Then we made the popcorn.

First Emily put 1/2 a cup of popping corn into our hot air popcorn maker. 

I turned it on and Juliette and Daddy came in to watch!

   We all watched the bowl fill up with freshly popped popcorn.

Next, Emily and I made the caramel.  First we melted 1/4 of a cup of butter (half a stick) in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Then we stirred in 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of corn syrup and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.  We brought it to a boil, stirring constantly.

Boil without stirring 4 minutes.  Emily liked this part because it got all bubbly.  I always get nervous that I am going to burn it so I can’t wait for this part to be over!

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract.  Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.

Finally, place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Enjoy!!

We really enjoyed this popcorn, what is your favorite way to eat fresh popped popcorn?

Muffin Tin Monday ~ Thanksgiving

This weeks theme for Muffin Tin Monday was Thanksgiving.  I originally planned on having a Turkey Sandwich lunch with cranberry sauce and other typical Thanksgiving foods, but Emily had other plans.  She wanted A TURKEY or her lunch shaped like a turkey and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  So this is what I came up with!

A Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich Turkey!!

I love my Pampered Chef Cut and Seal and it was perfect for making the body of the Turkey.  I filled the sandwich with peanut butter and jelly as per Emily’s request.  I used a scrap of the bread to make the turkey’s head and “glued” it to the body using some peanut butter.  Next, I added a piece of a chocolate chip for the eye, apple skin for the snood and American Cheese for the beak.  I broke up some pretzels for the feet and then used slices of apple for the feathers.

The other day Emily and I made some caramel popcorn,  so that was the perfect crunchy treat to go with her lunch!

This was our first edible turkey project, but you can check out some of the fun Turkey Crafts that we have made so far too.

stART ~ Franklin’s Thanksgiving

Welcome to stART! I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.

This week we read Franklin's Thanksgiving,  by Paulette Bourgeois.  Emily enjoyed this sweet story about Franklin the Turtle.  He is sad that his Grandparent’s can not make it to celebrate Thanksgiving, but Franklin and is parents decide to surprise each other by invite all of their friends to come over.  They end up having so many guest that they don’t know where to put everyone.  Until Franklin has a great idea and the family starts a whole new special Thanksgiving tradition.

Emily and I talked about our Thanksgiving Traditions and then made another Turkey decoration for our Thanksgiving Celebration out of leaves that fell from the tree in our front yard.

It was fun to go on another leaf hunt to find the leave that looked like feathers for the Turkey.  Emily glued them onto a piece of construction paper.

Next, she glued the Turkey Body over the leaves.  I cut the body out of construction paper for her.

After that she glued on the beak and snood that were cut from craft foam.

Finally she asked for a green marker to draw the eyes and orange to draw the feet.  She told me that some people have green eyes so her turkey could too.

   Emily’s Finished Leaf Turkey

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Start of a Road Trip

 

The girls on Thursday at 2 o’clock in the morning  right before we pulled out of our driveway to begin our 15 hour drive to Atlanta, Georgia!!

Emily couldn’t be more excited and Juliette just wanted to go back to sleep.

A Very Merry Shutterfly Christmas!!

I first used Shutterfly for  Emily’s birth announcement and was so happy with all the wonderful styles and personalization choices.  When Juliette was born there was no question that I would use Shutterfly again for her birth announcement.    

  After this summer I decided to use Shutterfly to  make a “Summer Fun 2010” photo book which featured all the special activities that we did as a family this summer.  This has become one of Emily’s favorite books and is such a great way to record our precious memories.

With Christmas right around the corner I am planning on using Shutterfly to create the perfect Christmas gifts and holiday cards for our family.  I am sure that Emily and Juliette’s Grandparents would love a desk calendar, photo book or bracelet with their granddaughters pictures on them.

After checking out all of the new Christmas Card designs I can’t wait to create our family Christmas Card this year. 

So far my favorite designs are:

Full of Love

Charming Gift Wrap Christmas 5x7 folded card

How Holly Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

Once the great Christmas card photo shoot of 2010 is over and I upload my pictures I will be able to make the final decision.  Until then I definitely recommend checking out all that Shutterfly has to offer! 

What is your favorite Holiday Card Design or Shutterfly Photo Gift Idea????

For your own chance to get 50 FREE Holiday Cards from Shuttefly go HERE.

Disclosure: I will receive free cards for writing this post to participate in Shutterfly’s holiday card promotion however these are my own unbiased experiences and opinions.

Sensory Fun ~ Fall Fabric Leaves, Popcorn and Split Peas

I filled our sensory tub up with a half a bag of popcorn kernels that were in the cabinet for years.  (I bought a fresh bag and couldn’t just through these out.)  I also added a bag of split peas and a bunch of fall fabric leaves and flowers.  I found a bunch of them while I was going through our fall decorations.  I didn’t have a use for them anymore so I thought they would be great for a fall themed sensory tub.

Juliette was able to test it out while Emily was taking a nap.  She loved using the scoop I found at my Grandmother’s house while helping her clean out some cabinets.

   She also liked just feeling the leaves and throwing them around the tub and then the floor.  There was quite a mess once she was finished, but she had a great time doing it!

Teatown Lake Nature Preserve

We went upstate to for a Pumpkin Blaze  so we decided to go up early and visit The Teatown Lake Reservation.  Teatown Lake Reservation is a 834-acre nature preserve which is located in the northwest section of Westchester County, New York.

The Nature Center

Emily and Juliette enjoyed seeing the different animals that were housed in the nature center.  We were able to see Turtles, snakes, ferrets, frogs, and different birds of prey.  These animals are cared for by the preserve because injuries have made it so that they can not be released into the wild.  Emily was very concerned about this and wanted to know what happened to each of the animals.  She was especially upset when she found out that many of the birds of prey were hit by cars .

Checking out the Turtle Tank

The Birds of Prey

The signs told you about each animal.  Emily was very interested in finding out why they were here and where they were found.

We were pleasantly surprised by how much fun we all had walking around the nature center and grounds.  We all agreed that we would love to come back and try some of the trails when the weather was a little warmer.  If you are ever in the area I highly recommend visiting.  The best part is that it is completely free!

stART ~ My First Thanksgiving

 

Welcome to stART! I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.

This week we read My First Thanksgiving, by Tomie dePaola.  This book simply and clearly explains  the first Thanksgiving as well as  why and how  we celebrate Thanksgiving today.  I thought that is was a great introduction to talking about Thanksgiving with Emily.

To go along with this book we made these cute placemats with our Art Group.  I loved that Emily and Juliette were both able to make one.  I printed the saying “For Our Blessings We Give Thanks” on a piece of paper and then had the girls glue it onto the construction paper.  They used crayons and Thanksgiving Stickers (from the Target Dollar Spot) to decorate it.  I laminated them once they were finished so they would last longer.

Emily’s Placemat

Juliette’s Placemat

(She did all the stickers I added some of the crayon drawing)

We will be able to use these when we celebrate Thanksgiving with our family as we remember all the things that we are thankful for throughout the year.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Emily’s Painted Nails

Emily has been waiting to get her nails painted for the longest time…she was such a good girl the past few days that I couldn’t say no when she asked if I could paint them for her the other day!

(Juliette wanted hers painted too, but she will have to wait a little longer)

  One very happy little girl showing off her adorable pink painted nails!

Paper Plate Turkey Wreath

I had the girls make these Paper Plate Turkey Wreaths during art group last week.  I cut out the center of a paper plate to make the base for the paper loops to go on.  Then I cut out a bunch of strips of paper (mine were 1x6 inches)  I taped them into loops and had them all ready for the girls to glue them on to the wreath.  I am sure an older child would be able to do this part themselves.

Emily glued the paper loops onto the paper plate

Next she folded two thin strips like an accordion.  These will be used for the legs

I cut out feet shapes for Emily to glue onto the legs

Then she glued  beak,  snood and legs to the body.  I traced Emily’s food onto a piece of brown construction paper for the body.

      

I gave the girls the choice of gluing on wiggly eyes or using a marker.  Emily chose the marker :0)

Finally she glued the body to the loops on the plate.

 

Check out other great ideas for Tots and Preschoolers:

Digging for…

…PEANUTS!!

This summer we planted peanut seeds to grow our own peanut plants and have been waiting to see if we actually grew any peanuts.  We were motivated to dig for them after Emily spotted a squirrel sitting on the planter digging through it.

I set the planter on the floor for the girls and gave them some spoons to go digging for peanuts.

We grew about 7 which we were so excited for.

    Emily thought it was so cool that they were all under the soil.  I can’t wait to try this again next year.

An Upcoming Review ~ Time4Learning

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used in many ways including as a homeschooling curriculum or afterschool tutorial. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

stART ~ Five Silly Turkeys

Welcome to stART! I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.

This week we read Five Silly Turkeys, by Salina Yoon.  Emily enjoyed this cute counting  book last year.  This year both girls were able to have fun listening to it.  Juliette liked turning the pages with the fabric tail feathers!  

After reading the book Emily made a paper bag Turkey. 

First Emily stuffed a paper lunch bag with newspaper.

Then she helped me tape the top closed.  We rolled it over so that it would be flat.   Emily painted the whole bag with brown paint.

While we waited for the paint to dry Emily glued the beak, snood, and eyes on the turkey body.

Once everything was dry Emily glued on the body and tail feathers (I cut them out of construction paper)  There were about 16 feathers for her to glue on, but she only wanted to do 3, one of each color so that we could see them easily.

 

Emily’s Paper Bag Turkey