Mini House and Barn

Here are the pictures of the house and barn I made for the girls.  I didn’t do any embellishments on the insides but each girl got some things to play with inside them (Josie got doll furniture for her house; Audrey got cows, a horse, a tractor and a farmer for her barn).

Here are the websites where I got the pattern and ideas:

http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2010/06/mini-take-along-doll-house.html

http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2008/08/fabric-dollhouse-tutorial.html

Homemade Mac & Cheese

This is my friend Lisa McAmis' recipe with a little more cheese added to it.  Easy and yummy!

16 oz. macaroni (I like elbow or small shells for this), cooked and drained

24 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

2 eggs

Enough milk to make 2 cups including the eggs

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Place just enough pasta into the pan to barely cover the bottom.  Cover with 8 ounces of cheese.  Add some more pasta and 8 ounces of cheese.  Add the remaining pasta (but not the cheese).  Whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together and pour over the pasta.  Cover with the remaining 8 ounces of cheese.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

I usually half the recipe unless I’m taking it somewhere, then I make the full amount.

Clothespin Letter Game

My mom bought some curtains and inside the packages were some white corrugated cardboard.  Being the resourceful (cheap!) person I am, I asked if I could have them (along with the zippers used to close the packages--possible quiet book parts!).  I cut them into strips and wrote the uppercase letters on the bottoms of them, leaving enough room for the clothespins to be pinned above them.  I then took 26 clothespins and wrote the lowercase letters on them (I wrote them on both sides after playing the game once).  The idea of the game is to match the lowercase letter with the uppercase letter.  Since my kids love playing with clothespins, this is a great game for them!

Letter Memory, Match, Bingo

With index cards, a fine point and regular point Sharpee, and a little time, I made this set of cards that have proven to be a fun way to learn letters!  I use them with both kids and they seem to love it!

I cut 3x5 cards into 3 sections and drew letter writing lines with the fine point Sharpee, then wrote the capital and lower case letters (A to Z) on the cards. 



Letters:  I used the lines on the index cards as guides for the lines I drew.



For the Bingo cards, I cut 4x6 cards into 4x4 and drew lines in one inch increments with the fine point marker.  I took the regular Sharpee and wrote random letters (uppercase on some cards; lowercase on the others) into the squares.  The girls use pennies to play Bingo.  I let them cover the whole card to win.  You can choose upper or lower case, depending on the level of the child.  We also take turns:  I call the letters out, they cover their cards with pennies.  Then Josie calls out the letters.  Of course you can show them the letters or you can just say the letters, depending on their level. 

For memory, I choose several letters and we play memory (I haven’t used the whole set yet at once, just some) where an uppercase and lowercase of the same letter is a match.

For letter match, I place several uppercase letters in a column and give the child the lowercase letters that will match them.  They then place the lowercase by the uppercase (or the baby with the Mama, as Josie likes the say). 

Mexican Squash & Ground Beef

Well, we've already harvested squash twice!  I found this idea online but I added to and took away from. Here's what I came up with...

1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
oil
3 medium yellow squash, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 can rotel (Austin said to try two cans next time)

Saute squash and onion in oil over medium heat until tender.  Add beef, spices, and rotel.  Stir and continue cooking until most of the juices have been absorbed.  Serve over rice if you like.

I would like to try adding 8 oz. velveeta to this.  I think it would add a lot!  You could add other veggies too...zucchini and green peppers.  You can also pour the casserole into a baking dish, cover with cheese, and bake for 20-30 minutes on 350. 

Breakfast Casserole (crescent rolls)

This recipe comes from my friend Robin.  She's an awesome cook!  When she brought this to Sunday School, Austin couldn't get enough of it!  It's really yummy!

2 cans pillsbury crescent rolls
1/2 lb mild sausage
1/2 lb hot sausage
6 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt (more or less to your liking)
1 tsp Pepper (more or less to your liking)

Spray 9x13 pan. Line pan with crescent rolls pressing to close. Cook sausage, drain, sprinkle over crescent roll layer. Combine eggs, milk salt and pepper and whisk well. Pour liquid over sausage. Cover with cheese. Cook on 375 for 35-45 mins until set.