Chore Chart

I've been looking for a new chore chart idea for a long time.  There's one by Melissa and Doug that I liked, but I couldn't bring myself to spend $20 on a chore chart, especially because I'd need 2.  Today I got a new idea, inspired by a post I found on Pinterest.  

First a side note:

My children are 4, and almost 3 (and 5 months but lets face it, she's not doing any chores ☺) They don't understand money so we use Stone Jars as a reward system for helping out.  We use a pint size jar and they get small craft stones for helping, once their jar is full they get a one-on-one date with Daddy.  It's become something both girls and Daddy always look forward to.  

So... my chore chart. I used my Silhouette to make these circle cutouts on magnetic paper, each circle has pictures of the chores, seems they can't read, and how many stones that chore is worth.  They are allowed to choose which chores they want to do and earn their stones doing something different every day.  I love it.  It helps to teach them responsibility and consequence. 

So far it's working great, they're both really excited.  I've posted some pics below:

The rewards are based off of how "fun" or easy the jobs are.  The chores that are "Mommy" chores are worth more stones because it takes more effort.

I think this will be the perfect solution to my problem.

How do you work chores at your house?

Brushetta Chicken

It's delicious, and super easy. :-)

Bruschetta Chicken 

Recipe and Photo Source

what you need

4

small  boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4

cup  KRAFT Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing, divided

1

 tomato, finely chopped

1/2

cup  KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese (I use 1/4 cup Mozz and 1/4 cup Parmesan)

1/4

cup  chopped fresh basil

heat grill to medium heat (i chose to broil mine in the oven, which works great too).

make it

PLACE chicken in large resealable plastic bag. Add 2 Tbsp. dressing; seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with dressing. Refrigerate 10 min (or longer). Remove chicken from bag; discard bag and dressing.

COVER half the grill grate with sheet of heavy-duty foil.  Place chicken on uncovered side of grill grate; grill 6 min. Meanwhile, combine remaining dressing, tomatoes, cheese and basil.(Or cover a cookie sheet or other pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with coooking spray. Place chicken on baking sheet. Broil for 5-7 minutes; turn and broil another 5-7 minutes. Top with tomato/Cheese mixture and broil 1 minute until melted.) 

TURN chicken over; place on foil. Top with tomato mixture. Grill 8 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

kraft kitchens tips

VARIATION

Marinate chicken in shallow glass dish instead of in the plastic bag.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Serve with hot buttered egg noodles, and grilled or steamed vegetables. (I served with steamed broccoli and rice)

SUBSTITUTE

If you don't have fresh basil, you can use 1 tsp. dried basil leaves instead.

Posted by Mindy

Cinderella and Tinker Bell

When I asked my children what they wanted to be for Halloween this year I was not really surprised when I got "CINDERELLA!!!" and  "TINKERBELL!!!" for my answers. (I really did  try to convince them that they would make the cutest little witch and scarecrow ever! but they wouldn't have it.)

I've had the fabric for a month and Friday night I realized that the festivities are starting in a week, and I hadn't even started the costumes yet.  So despite everything else I needed to do I spent two days hunched over my sewing machine working my fingers to the bone.

My neck hurts and my back is sore, but the smiles are always worth it.

They didn't turn out too bad, if I say so myself. 

The girls really got into character for pictures.

FYI: I used the tutorials found on Makeit-loveit.com with a few changes of my own.

Happy Halloween!!!

Its that time of the year again! It's HALLOWEEN!!! It's my absolute favorite time of year. In honor of the upcoming holiday, I thought I'd present you with a few crafts :D

Halloween Blocks: Zombie, Frankenstein, Ghost, and Pumpkin. 

Directions: Cut a 2x4 to make some taller blocks (mine were 8" in height). Sand and round corners if desired. Paint 1 block green, 1 orange, 1 white, and leave the other block plain (or paint black if desired. Paint on your favorite face and VOILA! I wrapped gauze bandage around my mummy; and "dirtied" him up a little using a brown ink pad (purchased at Walmart for $0.97). 

SUBWAY ART! Let's be honest...I LOVE subway art. One of my favorite places to get subway art is from the amazingly talented Colette at "My Computer Is My Canvas". I used her idea after I printed her subway art. This made such a fun and cheap teacher gift! I bought a handful of picture frames from the dollar store and just glued on some googly eyes using some hot glue. LOVE!

Wood...let's be honest. I just love working with wood. I bought this wooden pumpkin at the D.I. a few years back for like 50 cents, knowing that I could come up with a cute project for it someday. I cut this cute orange fabric into a bunch of 1" squares (I used a handful of green fabric squares for the stem). Using a little modge podge and a bunch of squares, this boring plain pumpkin turned into a cute pumpkin to put on a shelf.

 HAPPY HAUNTING!!!!

Crafted by Mindy

Sweetened Condensed Milk and Cinnamon Butter

Hey there. It's true....all of us have been busy! It's not that I haven't crafted..I just haven't taken pictures of any of my crafts in the last while. Moving is crazy, there's no way around it.   However, I ALWAYS find time to cook (even if I don't take pictures), so here are a few recipes to add to your collection:


I LOVE sweetened condensed milk. Anything with it is delicious, honestly. It does get a little pricey....so how about making it yourself? It's EASY! This can be used just like the kind you buy in the store in a can.

Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup warm water
1 Cup + 2 T Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
3/4 cup Sugar

Place warm water in bowl. Add dry milk and mix well. Add sugar and mix until smooth. Store in refrigerator in container with a lid.

So, What are my 2 favorite recipes that contain sweetened condensed milk?

Fudge Bars

and
Cinnamon Butter..you know the stuff you get at Texas Roadhouse? Yeah, kind of like that! :)

Cinnamon Butter
1 cup Butter, softened
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 tsp Cinnamon (or more, to taste)
1/2 tsp corn syrup

Mix together, spread on bread or rolls. YUM!

Baby Blessing Dress

I'm feeling very accomplished today.  It's the first day I've tackled a project since my baby was born.  Life with three kids is a lot harder than life with two!  However, I didn't have much of a choice.  We're going to be blessing our baby next week and I needed to make her dress.  I've had the fabric ever since I found out I was having a girl.  It's my 4th ever dress, and the first one of such an itty bitty size.

It's not perfect, but it's made with love.

Back:

Decorative stitching around the neckline.

Big ribbon bow in front.

I love the embroidered sheer. 

Absolutely beautiful.

Two Months Later...

A quick apology to our readers... if any of you are still hanging around.  The last couple months have been, well... busy.

Two of our authors: Kristie and Mindy have been in process of moving. 

and

Holli and Kristie have each welcomed a new edition to our homes within the last month.

Once things settle down a bit we'll try to get back to the blogging, we haven't given up all together.  Hopefully we'll get with it soon.