Biscuit Pizza!

I used Biquick to make one large biscuit per biscuit instructions, added Ragu pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni. I baked it on a stone for about 10 minutes.

Very Filling and the Kids loved it!

Any Readers Out There?

This would be a great idea for a book group too!

Our Local Library does a Summer Reading Special every summer for the kids.  This year they've added something a little more for adults as well.  If you fill a line, you get entered in a prize drawing.  If you fill the whole sheet, you get entered in the Grand Prize Drawing.  I'm challenging myself to do it this summer.

The kids get a Kid's Bingo Sheet if they read 50 hours (you also get points for attending free classes and such ~magicians, lego builds, story time...). 

I seriously encourage everyone to find out what's going on in your community for family activities.  I HAVE FOUND AT LEAST ONE FREE EVENT PER DAY THIS SUMMER IN MY SMALL TOWN! Last year, I started a facebook group for people to post kids activities in the area.  It has definitely blossomed!  You should try it!

Lucky's Luau!!!

Going through pictures brings back memories!  I have a ton of pictures, but I'll try not to post too many that have other children in them.  For my son's tenth birthday, we held a pool party/ luau. Of course, it rained.  Of course, the party went on!  The kids had a blast and they're already talking about the next party!

 Our Centerpiece:  A vase from the dollar store, a balloon from the dollar store, and skittles!  We counted how many were in there.  The kids all guessed how many were in it.  The closest to the amount won!  There was another vase behind it with luau themed straws for drinking out of the coconuts.  Straws from the dollar store, coconuts from Amazon.

 Birthday Boy Hat!  From the dollar store!

 They loved this game!  I got aluminum pie pans, added a stick of gum (bubblegum), and lots of whip cream!  The first one to blow a bubble won a prize!

 Anthony's Island cake!  We used Wilson's Icing Dye (Blue) to make the blue (duh).  The island was a small mound of cake that was iced and had graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on.  We added chocolate rock candy around the island.  I then put out two sticks of gum for the beach towels and the teddy graham bears were adorable! I used a Lego fishing pole and a piece of floss for the fishing accessory!  My son loves fishing!  Twizzler pull/peel candy made great rafts.

Beach Umbrellas and plates also came from the dollar store. I have already seen a lot of stuff for this summer at the Dollar Tree. Everyone got a flower necklace from the dollar store as well!

 I printed my own invitations with a cute little poem.  I rolled them up and stuck them in the MAILABLE bottles!!!

These were the mailable bottles that I bought from Amazon.  I usually print my invitations because I can't stand writing them out.  So, I didn't use their actual invitations.  

Skylanders Cake! (And some Legos and a Pig)

 I started off with Confetti Cake Mix (I got sick of making cake that kids didn't like).  I made two, just in case something happened to one of them. These cake pans were 6 inches.  I also used them as the pedestal to help while decorating.

 I "Sealed the Crumb" by putting a thin layer of icing on the cake and then sticking it in the fridge (if you're in a hurry the freezer will work~ give it about 10-15 minutes).

 I used Wilson's icing dye in Black.  That stuff is inexpensive and lasts a long time!

 I needed the top to stay white, so I stuck a piece of aluminum foil on it.  Yes, I could have used something else, but it was about an hour and a half before the party and I was in a hurry and out of parchment paper.

 The icing went on pretty smoothly.  I didn't want it to be too smooth though.  It needed to have a rocky appearance.  The icing color was a dark gray/purple because I didn't use too much of the dye (just what I wanted).  I then took a butter knife (Ikea kids' utensils are amazing and I use them for everything), dipped it in the dye and drew some lines on the icing to make the brick appearance.

 Glad Press & Seal worked wonders on the bottoms of these REAL Skylanders Figures!  I trimmed it, of course.

 My baby is 7!  I used the cake pan as a pedestal, but used a knife and spatula to place it on a piece of cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil.

It was a surprise AND a hit! He loved it! It was a personal cake. All of the other kids got cupcakes with Legos on them. He wanted Angry Birds, Legos, and Skylanders for his birthday theme this year. Something simple, and because I had soooo many kids this year, I didn't go all out!

 Super easy Lego cupcakes.  I bought the candy from a local store that sells them.  I had about 30 kids running around my house that day, so please don't mind the un-makeup'd face. 

Here, Piggy Piggy Pinata!

After the broke the pig open, they all started chanting, "Destroy the Pig".  And then, "Burn the Pig".  So, we did.  I made all of the kids back up though.  I think the entire neighborhood heard the thirty of them.



Kids' End of the Year Gift Baskets! 

Both of my boys did really well this year!  I usually get them a little something for the last day of school.  This year, I went to the Dollar Tree, got a couple of sand pails (something that can be used in the summer!), and added some pool noodles (something that can be used in the summer~ see where I'm going with this?). I also added some candy, little firecrackers (the safer ones), water balloons, and gift cards.  One of the gift cards was for video gaming (ugh), and the other for Sonic.  I told them if they used the Sonic Card wisely (half price drinks from 2-5 ~small slushies being 50cents), it would last them a long time.  So, the theme of the gift is "Summer Pails".  Each cost me about $7 + $15 (gift cards)= $22. 

End of Year Teacher Gifts!

Lego Apples!  The boys gave these to their homeroom teachers for part of their "end of year gift".  They also received a gift card.  We had some amazing teachers this year!  We got these apples at the Lego Store in Orlando last fall.  If you're looking for one it is  Set #3300000 .

In 2011, I had decided to look into dabbling in the world of blogging.  Obviously I haven't gone very far with it.  I decided that if I want to try things, I really need to try them rather than just talk about them.  We'll see how it goes.  Summer is coming and I plan on having more time to write.  There will also be plenty of pictures as well.