Monday Muddle

Happy Easter!

Hey Everyone,

How was your weekend?  Did you have a good Easter?

These are my two oldest munchkins.  Lydia loves wearing dresses and was in all her glory yesterday.  That's my girlie.  Yesterday (as our entire weekend) was busy with happy memories and children all over the place.  We don't stay home for the holidays often, but we did this year and it just reminded me how much work my mom does for these crazy events.

We had church in the morning and everyone had to be dressed.  I'm trying to make it more of a habit for us to dress nicely for church, but it's aweful convicting for me.  With a six month old strapped in the carrier, I don't often want to put on a dress.  But my Lydia always turns it around on Mommy to wear a dress too.  I'm a work in progress.  Then we came home for lunch, Easter buckets, and a nap.  After nap (which all three kids needed), we finished making dinner and hunted eggs.  I took WAY TOO MANY pictures.  Can't wait for the day we can adopt Little Man and share his picture.  He's a cutie.  Easter with three was a lot of work, but entirely too much fun.

Here's our menu for the week:
Breakfasts:
Oatmeal and bananas
Cereal and fruit
Quinoa Oat Porridge
Green Almond Smoothie

Lunches:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sammies
Egg Salad Sammies
Salads
String cheese, carrots, peas, fruit

Dinners:
Monday: Pasta E Fagoili
Tuesday: Pea Soup
Wednesday: sack dinners (T-Ball Game)
Thursday: Homemade Pizza
Friday: Tacos (Taco Salad)
Saturday: Burgers, pasta salad
Sunday: Cheesy fish, steamed veggies

Extras:
Blackberry Frozen Yogurt

Projects I'm working on this week:
Organize and put scrapbook pages in albumn
Finish review book
Finish one creative project
Clean house for licensing

What are you working on this week?

What's in your Easter Basket?

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13 Non-Candy Easter Basket Ideas

Still looking for ways to fill those Easter baskets?  I am too.  Today's my shopping day so I've been brainstorming ideas.  Here's 13 Non-Candy Ideas for Filling Easter Baskets:

*Bubbles--My kids range from 6 years to 6 months and they all love bubbles.  Check out the Dollar Tree for a variety of sizes and scents.

*Swim wear--Summer's right around the corner.  Why not fill that basket with a new swimsuit?

*Pool toys--Diving sticks, squishy balls, and beach balls are all great ideas.

*Books--Check out your local library or the Target clearance section for a couple of new books.  This is an ageless gift.

*Puzzles--Whether your kids are just learning to put together puzzles or ready for a 1000 piece masterpiece, there are a ton of options.  Plus, it's a great way to spend family time together.

*Small Instruments--Look for harmonicas, tamborines, finger cymbals, or egg shakers.  And maybe a set of ear plugs for mom!  :-)

*Craft Supplies--Depending on your recipients, there's crayons and coloring books, paint and brushes, embroidery thread, glitter, stickers, construction paper, scrapbook supplies, etc.

*Small cars--Check the Dollar Tree toy section or Target for matchbox cards.  What little boy doesn't love them?

*Small Lego sets--Walmart carries these tiny sets with only a few pieces, but Legos are so fun, and a great addition to an Easter basket.

*Travel games--Smaller versions of classics can often be picked up at discount and provide fun both in the car and on family game night.

*Journal and stationary--My kids love writing in these little books,  Even better, teach them to write notes to family and friends far away.

*Jewelry--Make some bracelets for the little ones in your life.  Or pick up a special pair of earrings for that teenager.

*Hair clips--Make some of these cute hair clips or look up any of the cute tutorials on the internet.  I have a couple more coming near the end of the month.

What creative ideas are you using this year?

2012 Goals: March Check-In

How are your 2012 Goals going? March was better than February, but I am going to print out my goals and post them somewhere in the house.  There are some goals on here that I completely forget about for the whole month and then wonder where my head was when I update the next month.  What tips have you found to work?

These were my 2012 Goals and how I did in March:

Personal:
*Keep a consistent devotional time, memorizing verses through my discipleship group.--I'm still struggling with this. But the consistency of my discipleship group is helping.

*Memorize 12 verses with the kids.--We've done two so far in the past three months.

*Read 24 books.--I read 4 in Jan, 3 in Feb, and 5 in March.

*Tackle 12 DIY projects.--Tackled Homemade Wheat Thins in March

My Marriage:
*Plan a bi-weekly time of being together.--No date night this month. :-(

*Read 2-3 books together.--not yet

*Plan a yearly getaway.--Planning for this summer

My Kids:
*Plan a once a month date with each of the kids.--Took Lydia shopping, but never got a date with Noah.

*Homeschool/supplement preschool for Lydia and 1st/2nd grade for Noah.--Still working with Noah and started pre-reading with Lydia, although with other items

*Read through the Magic Treehouse series with them.--Finished book one and started listening to the series in the car again.

*Go on a field trip once a month.--Learned about the library with my son, and Lydia took a field trip to the grocery store.

Health and Wellness:

*Convert 4-5 items on our grocery list to organic, as budget allows.--Did some price research in March and going to do an experiment with 1-2 items in April.

*Develop a gym routine of 4-5 days a week.--Going twice a week so far. Love my Turbokick class.  Looking to add another day per week this month.

*Eat more seafood.--Bi-monthly so far

*Learn to make an incredible loaf of sourdough.--That's April's DIY goal.

Writing:
*Plan posts one month in advance and write posts one week in advance.--Planning is good, but writing is hard right now. Usually about 4-5 days ahead.

*Spend 2 hrs a week writing on something other than the blog.--Ooops for March

*Budget my blogging time more appropriately. Do less work when the kids are around.--Getting into a better routine. March was a lot better for this.  I still spend too much time blogging, but I've been more conscious of doing it when the kids aren't around.

Link up below and just let us know how you're doing. Let's work toward real change in 2012!

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Monday Muddle

Hey y'all,

How's your Monday morning?  Did you have a good weekend?

We're visiting my mom for a few days.  The kids have been outside for about a half hour already and they're keeping themselves busy.  My mom lives out in the country so there's a huge swingset, room to drive their car, and lots of places to roam and explore.  Plus Grandma spoils them so they love being up here.

This past weekend, my mom, grandma, and I went away on our annual scrapbooking trip.  Once a year, I go away and leave my hubby and kids to get some scrapbooking done.  That was this weekend.  I had so much fun, getting away and being creative.  I love having those photos scrapped and put into albums.  Although I just love being creative, scrapbooking will probably always be my first love and it was fun to get away with my mom.  I took the baby and he had everyone charmed, of course.  It didn't hurt that he was on his best behavior as well.

So we're at my mom's for a few days now and I've got a sick little one.  The baby's got quite a cold that's leaving him tired and cranky.  He'll be spending his time indoors while the big kids go crazy outside.  Posting might be a little sporatic this week.  We're visiting, planning for Easter, and dealing with a sick baby.  Not sure how thin I can stretch myself.  I do have a few post pre-planned so I'll still be here, just not as much as usual.  And don't forget to check out Facebook and Youtube for additional Creative2xmom material.

Hope you guys are having a great Holy Week!

Here's a few more things we have planned this week:

Easter Menu
Pork Tenderloin
Cabbage Salad
Lime Jello Salad
Homemade Rolls
Chocolate Pie

Extras this week:
Peanut Butter Eggs
Bird's Nests

Projects I'm working on this week:
Organize completed scrapbook pages
Journal on any necessary scrapbook pages
Finish review book/ Start a second
Make bracelet

What are you up to this week?