happy halloween!

Good morning! This is a layout I just finished of our Halloween last year made with the October Green Tangerines Kit of the Month:

To make these pumpkins, I printed out a clip art pumpkin in three different sizes. I then traced it. I also cut out the center part and traced it. I faux stitched some fun lines and then I raised the center piece with pop dots. I also cut out a stem and put it under the raised piece. Make sense? Pretty quick and easy and a fun accent. I don't own any die-cutting systems, so I have to make do!

Hope you have a fun evening with the kiddos!

breakaway

Breakaway is the Vacation Bible School that we attend every year. I always volunteer because I never want to miss out on all the fun! A huge highlight they added this year was go-karts and a zip line! My girls couldn't have been more thrilled. Seth gets to be a part of the "little-kids" program . . . He can't wait till he is old enough to be able to experience some of the "big kid" stuff.

For accents, I used some of Breakaway's promotional material that they sent home with parents. I just cut and glued . . . super simple and it will help us remember the theme.

This summer church camp is a highlight of our summer every year. Do you have a special camp or church camp that your kids attend every year? Have a great morning!

On Wednesday I showed you Faith's Kindergarten year. I also put a layout together for Paige--her second grade year.

 

This layout was made with my September Green Tangerines Kit of the Month. This was one of my favorite kits! 

See the tiny square picture of Paige (above her I.D. card)? She is doing her school work on a bench at the mall. One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we can do it anywhere! We do this often when we need a change of scenery. The reward for doing our work at the mall is that we get to eat lunch there! My kids love "mall school days!"

Each year I like to do a layout for each child of highlights from their school year. I also include their I.D. card. We are with a charter homeschool, which simply means that a credentialed teacher checks on us once a month and helps us with any questions that we might have. The girls also attend some extra curricular classes (Spanish, crocheting, cooking, music, P.E.--just to name a few), thus the backpacks they have on in one picture. We also go on A LOT of field trips!

I love having one layout that can remind us of how much fun we had that year!

 Here are a couple of cards made from this kit. Have a great day!

six flags

Each year we participate in the Read to Succeed Program that Six Flags puts on and we get free tickets! I even get a free ticket as their homeschool teacher. Gotta love that! We went with one of their best buddies who also homeschools.

 

I used my August Green Tangerines Kit of the Month for this layout. And yes, I am really behind in posting layouts! 

 And a couple of simple cards made using the same kit.

Hope you have a fabulous Monday morning!

the pumpkin patch

 Last week, we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Tim always takes a day off of work for the festivities so that we don't have to fight the crowds on the weekend. It was the perfect day!

 Tim's mom drove up from Southern California to join us for the festivities. It was a special treat to have her along! It was her first EVER trip to a pumpkin patch! She was impressed with all the activities they had.

 

 

 

This hay has a trampoline (or something bouncy) underneath. It is always a favorite with all the kids!

 

My animal lover.

 

 

I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy these kinds of outings with my family. Enjoy your day!

fat free banana muffins

Oh. My. Goodness. Run, don't walk, to your kitchen now. See those over-ripe bananas sitting in your fruit basket? Grab them. Now.

This is hands down, my favorite muffin recipe. I found it here on one of my favorite healthy eating recipe blogs. I adapted it to make it a little more to my liking and made it into muffins instead of bread--much easier to freeze and grab an individual sized serving. And at only 80 calories per muffin, they are the perfect little snack!

Banana Muffins
(makes 12-14 muffins)
2 c Sweet Sorghum Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 c almond milk (or regular milk if you aren't lactose free)
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 c agave nectar
1/4 c pure maple syrup
1.5 Tbls fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 c tightly-packed,  mashed banana (measured after mashing--takes about 4-ish bananas)

Combine dry ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix into dry. Bake at 350 degrees in a muffin liner in your muffin tin for 20-25 minutes. Check with a toothpick after 20 minutes.

This may look like a lot of ingredients, but I can throw this together and get them in the oven in 10 minutes. And my kids LOVE to mash the bananas!

Alternate add-ins:
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c walnuts
I haven't added ALL of these things at once, just one at a time. If you add some of these, your muffin will no longer be fat free, but they add a little something special to your muffin!