Pajama Storytime

The other week I took Alexandra to Pajama Storytime at a local library. It was for ages 4-8 and all of the kiddos wear their pajamas, listen to a few stories, and then do an activity afterwards. It was so nice to take her because with her little brother around she and I don't often get to do Mommy/Alex only activities.

She listened to three books about ladybugs - one of them we had at home. They read a nonfiction book, a fiction book, Ten Little Ladybugs, and a silly book at the end that was interactive. I wish I could remember the name of the last book because it was cute!

Alexandra likes learning new things and often at bedtime she will pick out a nonfiction book to read. So when the librarian read the nonfiction book it was nice because Alex was already familiar with ladybugs.

Of course when they were done with the books they made a ladybug snack. I used to teach first and second grade and they would have loved doing this activity. I'll keep it in my head for if and when I get a teaching job!

This post is linked to 

over at JDaniel4's Mom

Muffin Tin Monday: Olympic Style

It's Muffin Tin Monday! 

Wow! I looked at the last time I posted and it was quite some time ago. This month has been crazy. We've been traveling every single weekend and so Mondays are usually spent unpacking and catching up on laundry...so we can pack up again! I've actually missed doing the Muffin Tin Lunches with Alex! She requested one on Friday and since it was the day of Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics I went with it! (And I tried using a muffin tin but it was hard so I transferred it to a plate!)

We talked about the symbols of the Olympics and did some crafts as well. Each day this week I want to try to do something Olympic related. She's actually been watching them with us too. She is starting to recognize landmarks on the TV like "Buckyham Palace!" It's fun watching the games with her!

Here is the lunch that I made her followed by a few of the activities 

The Olympic Torch at the top made out of a mini ice cream cone and strawberry

Olive Wreath made out of green peppers

An Olympic medal made out of a banana slice and red licorice

The flag of England made of American cheese 

The Olympic Rings in the middle made out of blueberries, chocolate chips, a strawberry, a banana, and peas

We made an Olympic torch, the rings, and a javelin made out of straws. 

For  more inspiration for Muffin Tin Meals visit Muffin Tin Mom

Muffin Tin Monday: Make Your Own Pizza

It's Muffin Tin Monday...and we seriously need to do our grocery shopping. We hardly have anything for lunches (and I just don't want to make mac and cheese every day), and for breakfast we are getting a little sick of toast as well. I hate not having fresh fruit in the house! My husband does the grocery shopping and he was going to go Saturday. Well on Saturday he said about going Sunday. Then yesterday he didn't really feel like it and I was thinking - Oh NO! I  had strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, cheese, etc all on the list because we love them but also because I wanted to make Alexandra a Red, White, and Blue muffin tin lunch. 

So today I tried to make due and since I had some pizza dough that I was going to use for some stromboli I thought she could make some star pizzas. She loved that idea! She loves cooking, loves pizza...AND as I type she has eaten the pizzas and is now finishing the leftover sauce with a spoon. She is definitely my daughter because I would do the same! And especially because I LOVE my pizza sauce - it's Chef Boy-ar-dee  and the "Chef" was actually from my hometown. The Chef-Boy-ar-dee factory is there and a few of my relatives work there, which means that I can get cases of that stuff for cheap!! (way below store cost!)

But anyways, what I did was I had her roll out the dough with my help and then she cut the stars out with a cookie cutter. I baked them and I was planning on having her add her toppings and pop it back in the oven to melt (especially since the bag of cheese was in the freezer!) but she had other plans. She made the pizzas and started eating them and said "I love frozen cheese". Ok. Whatever. It doesn't matter to me! 

For more ideas visit Muffin Tin Mom