Fabulous Friday {41}

Welcome friends to another 

Has everyone had a good week?  I don't think I've seen the sun in about two weeks.  Rain rain rain.  I hope this long weekend brings some sun.  Maybe mother nature needs to read my blog and take a look at my title.

Today I am featuring the link with the most views: 

Bath Pouf Angel by Crafty Journal 

How cute is this for the holidays?

A big thank you to all who linked up!  I know there are tons of parties to choose from and I'm honored that you choose to party here!

On to this week's par-tay...

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Visit at least 2 links and leave some comments.  Everyone wants to feel loved!

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Veggie Quesadillas

I'm so excited about kicking off my Back to School Series this Sunday!  I've got some very talented bloggers who will be sharing all things related to Back to School.  If you would like to spread the word, feel free to grab the button below.



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 If you missed my post over at Wait Til Your Father Gets Home, I am sharing it here with you today. This is a quick and easy dinner recipe for those hectic nights during the school week.  

I don't know about you but I feel very rushed at the end of the day.  Dinner, homework, bath, and bedtime routine leaves me exhausted.  Not to mention the after school activities.  My daughter has soccer on Wednesday nights until 6 pm.  The last thing I want to do when we get home is to spend a long time cooking dinner.  On nights like these, I like to make my Veggie Quesadillas.

Ingredients

Flour tortillas

Green peppers

Onions

Tomatoes

Shredded mexican cheese blend

Recipe

Chop up your veggies (you could do this earlier in the day to avoid any prep work at dinner time)

Saute the veggies for a few minutes over medium heat. Do not cook the tomatoes. 

Remove the veggies from the heat.

Spray your pan with cooking spray and place a flour tortilla on the pan.  Place a layer of cheese on the tortilla.

Place your veggies (and tomatoes) on the tortilla and add another layer of cheese.

Place another tortilla on top.

Cook each side a few minutes (until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is browned).

Yummy gooey goodness!

If you want meat with your meal, you can add shredded chicken as well!

I hope you have enjoyed this recipe!

Chore Chart

Do your kids whine when you ask them to clean up their room?  And when you finally get them to pick up their toys, do they do it ever so slowly so they can drag it out as long as possible and avoid bedtime?

This is the situation almost daily in our house.  I got pretty fed up so I created a chore chart.  Hopefully this will make doing chores a little bit easier.

This chart is very easy to make.  

I placed white cardstock in a picture frame and used stickers on the front to spell out my children's names.

I used 3M hooks and placed 3 in each row.

I chose 6 age appropriate tasks:

pick up toys
clear table
clean room
put clothes away
make bed
do homework 

I printed them out on 2x2 squares of cardstock.

I cut out 3x3 pieces of patterned paper and adhered the cardstock to the patterened paper.

I punched a hole in the top and hung each task on hook.

I am planning on hanging the frames in our dining area.

When my children are done with each task, they can flip the card over.  Hopefully this will turn chores into a game and eliminate  reduce the whining.

I'm going to laminate the cards to make them more durable.

How do you get YOUR children to do their chores?  What are your creative solutions?

Fabulous Friday {40}

Welcome again to another Fabulous Friday!  I hope you all have something fun planned for this weekend.  It's my birthday weekend!  I'm not quite sure what is in store but I am hoping it is sunny out so I can enjoy a day at the beach.  But judging by the recent weather, I'm not sure that will be happening.  As long as I get my ice cream cake everything will be fine!

Let's check out some Fabulous Features from this past week!

            This Alice and Wonderland party by Sweet Boutique is  
                       AMAZING!  So many wonderful details!

                        This mixed berry mascarpone bomb by
                         Nifty Thrifty Things looks delish!

             Take a look at this gorgeous chevron backsplash 
                   by Pressing On.  I love all things chevron!

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up!  If you were featured today, please grab a button from my sidebar.

These features are pinned to my Pinterest board and I also feature other projects on my Facebook page.


On to this week's par-tay...

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Visit at least 2 links and leave some comments.  Everyone wants to feel loved!

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

I seriously can't figure out why the text below is so huge and a really bad color.  I also don't know why in the world the text for the link ups is so big.  inlinkz is not my friend right now.  It's late and I want to get this party started. So please just ignore that big eyesore . Hopefully next week it won't happen.

Are you ready for some Football?

Football starts in a few short weeks!!  I seriously cannot wait!  Since we live far away from our "hometown" team (Go Ravens), unfortunately we can't tailgate.  But that does not stop us from celebrating on Sunday afternoons.  We do our own version of tailgating and we call it COUCH-GATING.  We make a big meal of munchies that we can snack on all day long.  It consists mostly of deep fried food :)  Calories don't count while watching football, right?  We got a small deep fryer last year so onion rings and wings are staples for football season.  And then we sit on the couch pretty much all afternoon except for the trips to the table for more food or beverage.  It's the highlight of our week.  

In honor of this upcoming season, I have created some free printables for you!  I kept the colors green and brown so you can use these no matter what team you cheer for!  I hope you love them.  Print out on cardstock, cut and punch with a 2" circle punch. Use them at your next football party!

Download here

These printables are for personal use only.  

What team do you cheer for? 

And if you say the Steelers, we just can't be friends :)  

Kitchen Tips

If you missed this post over at Bear Rabbit Bear's Kitchen Week Series, I am sharing it here with you today.

 Today I am going to give you some tips on how I keep my kitchen clean and organized.

SPARKLY CLEAN

If there is one thing I cannot stand, it is a dirty kitchen.  Now don't get me wrong...many a mornings I wake up to a sink filled with dirty dishes because I was too lazy/tired/busy blogging :)  the night before to put them in the dishwasher. UGH.  It drives me crazy.  I really need to work on it.  

But, I really try to make sure my counters are always clean.  And I haven't purchased any kitchen cleaner in over a year.  I make my own and it is sooo easy and cheap. Want to know how it's made?

Combine equal parts vinegar and water.  That's it!  I put it in a recycled bottle and I have a fantastic cleaner for pennies!  I buy the big jugs of white vinegar and it lasts me forever!  If you have really tough grime to get off, baking soda does the trick! Just sprinkle some on and scrub with a bit of water.  I use this all the time when my white sink gets dingy.  It makes it look *almost* new again.

Now that you know my secret for cleaning counters, here is a secret for cleaning messy hands, especially the little ones. You know what I'm talking about...the ones that leave the mysterious greasy handprints all over those walls that you just scrubbed.  You know that overpriced foaming hand cleanser?  You can make that too!  All you need is an empty foaming bottle.  Add one tablespoon of hand soap and fill the rest of the bottle with water.  I buy the big bottles of hand soap and use it to make foaming soap in addition to refilling all the regular soap bottles.

ORGANIZED AND IN ORDER

Another thing I can't stand is paper clutter.  All those bills, take-out menus, lists, important papers, etc.  AAGGGHHH!  To tackle this mess, I created a Household Binder.  

It includes everything that keeps our family running!   I have so much stuff that I have two binders!  One is dedicated specifically to our family finances.  I keep these binders right on my counter!   The best thing is, you can organize your binder into categories to fit your life!

And lastly, my kitchen would not function properly without an organized pantry.  One way I keep things tidy is by using plastic containers with chalkboard labels.  You can buy the chalkboard labels on many different Etsy shops but I found mine at Staples.  

I find that things that comes in bags (sugar,flour,rice etc.) easily spill in the pantry. By placing them in containers with lids, you avoid this potential mess.  Hmmm.. must remember to buy more snacks.  That container is getting low :)

I hope you have enjoyed my tips to help you keep your kitchen clean and organized.

Fabulous Friday {39}

Hello Friday!!

So I am back in the swing of things and am recovering well from my knee surgery.  Thank you all so much for your kind words last week.  

Welcome to the party!  I'm so glad you have joined me this week!

Here are some Fabulous Features from last week:

Living Room Reveal from Welcome to the Mouse House

So beautiful!

Flank steak and blue cheese salad from Adventure Food Love

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones from Scissors and Spoons

Thanks so much for everyone who linked up!

These features are pinned to my Pinterest board and I also feature projects on my Facebook page.


On to this week's par-tay...

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Visit at least 2 links and leave some comments.  Everyone wants to feel loved!

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Back to School Printables

Do you have trouble getting your child up and out the door in the morning for school?  Do you receive a blank stare when you ask the quesion "What did you do in school today?"

If so, I think you are going to like what I am sharing with you today.  Amy over at Living Locurto has designed some printables that I adore.

I have used this one since my daughter started preschool.  She loves the colors and even if your child can't read, the pictures help them get an organized start to their day. Amy has also designed one with blue for your little boy.

This is one that I am going to start to use this year (she just started kindergarten).  I love how it encourages your child to draw things that happened during the day and also write down what happened.

My daughter LOVES to draw and I am hoping that this will give her an outlet to let me know what goes on during her day.  Because when she hops in the car after school and I ask her what she did, she responds with "we went outside for recess" or "I saw (insert friend's name) at lunch today".  Now I know that lunch and recess probably rank high on the kindergarten priority list but mommy also wants to know what did you LEARN today? Hopefully it will help her communicate what she learned.

You can find both these printables and more for download at Living Locurto.

Guest Posting at Bear Rabbit Bear

Today I am guest posting over at Bear Rabbit Bear for Melanie's Kitchen Week Series.

Be sure to stop on over and check out my post and the other goodies that she has on the blog this week!

Back to School Series

BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!!!

  Are you in a frenzy getting your children ready to go back to school?  It seems like the summer has just flown by, doesn't it?  My daughter started kindergarten at the end of July.  She got into a year-round school at the very last minute so we were scrambling to get everything done in one weekend.  Talk about stressful!  

 At Here Comes the Sun, I want to take the stress out of your Back to School. That's why I've put together a great Back to School Series coming up at the beginning of September.  From kindergarten to high school.. there will be posts about it all!  I've got some great bloggers lined up and two great giveaways.  Mark your calendars.  You won't want to miss it!  Grab a button, post it on your blog and help spread the word!

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Fabulous Friday {38}

You have probably noticed that the blog has been a bit sparse this past week.  I had knee surgery yesterday and to be honest, the blog hasn't been high on the priority list this past week.  I meant to get this post up last night since I was laid up in bed but I underestimated how groggy I would be.  

Welcome to the party!  I am fashionably late!

Here is one of my favorites from last week's party:
Stitched Notebook Paper Paper Tags by Uncommom
These are so cute for Back-to-School!

  On to this week's par-tay...

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Visit at least 2 links and leave some comments.  Everyone wants to feel loved!

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Fabulous Friday {37}

Happy Friday!  

Is anyone else utterly exhausted from staying up late watching the Olympics?  I am beat.  My daughter also started school this past week so we've been getting up extra early. UGH.  It's going to take me some time to get into this school routine.  


Welcome to the Party!

Let's take a look at some fabulous Features from last week.

Dresser Redo from Vixen Made

Surfin' Party with free printables from Made in a Day

Scrumptious Mac n Cheese by Alderberry Hill 

Watermelon Sorbet from Chase the Star

Please grab a button if you were featured today!

Remember, I also pin the features to my Pinterest board.

On to this week's par-tay...

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Visit at least 2 links and leave some comments.  Everyone wants to feel loved!

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Salt Dough Olympic Medals

My kids are really getting into the Olympics, especially the swimming.  "Mommy... they swim fast!"  I made these super easy salt dough medals for them to wear so they can feel like they are a part of it all.

I followed the recipe from The Imagination Tree.

Roll out your dough and cut out circles using a cookie cutter or in our case, a small mason jar.

Using a straw, poke a hole through the top of each medal.

We used some scrapbooking stamps to stamp the numbers into the medals.

Bake the medals in the oven at 210 degrees F for 2 hours, turning them over after one hour.

Using acrylic paints, paint them gold, silver and bronze (or as close to those colors as you can get!).  Paint the numbers black and thread a piece of ribbon through the hole.

Now your little Olympians can display their medal proudly!