Ladybug Cupcakes

I just love these super cute ladybug cupcakes on Brightideas.com.  Maltballs and M & Ms make the dots and eyes.   These would be so cute for a ladybug or garden party.  You can see the recipe from Brightideas.com here.

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Melon Jello Boats

Hmmm..  I just saw a summer treat on the Skip to My Lou linky party that had me intrigued.   I saw a cantaloupe slice filled with blue jello and berries.   It looks so fun and refreshing.    This yummy fruit idea is from the blog Green Acres Hobby Farm..    To see how she made this colorful treat, you will need to see her tutorial  here.

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How to make a garden cake

I think the flower cupcakes Sun Scholars    made for her daughters birthday are so pretty.  They are so colorful and festive.  She gives a great step by step tutorial on how to make them.   The flower cupcakes woud be great for many themes, or even a teacher gift if you are still in school.  To  how they were made, check out the SueScholars.blogspot.com  here.

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Hidden Hotdogs

I have never seen anything like this before rainbow treat before. Can you guess what is hiding inside this pretty little rainbow?  Hotdogs!   This orginal treat is the brainchild of Hungry Happenings.  She has so many wonderful themed food treats on her blog that you just have to check out.  To see how to make a  hidden hotdog rainbow and many other types of fun food, check out HungryHappenings.com here.

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Beach Party Marshmellow Pops

With Kara's Beach Bash Birthday in  just a few weeks, we are thinking about what kind of treats to serve.  We want to do some kind of pop.   Our Meijer store recently started carrying the Jumbo Marshmellows which are the perfect size for some swimming and surfing bears.  

Until today I did not realize that Teddy Grahams are not all the same.  Did you know that some of the bears are arms down with feet apart, and some are arms up with feet together?   We used the arms up bears for the little surfers. 

I tried a couple of different types of candy to make surfboards.   Taffy type candy worked well because it is  on the thicker side and is easy to mold.  If you have a piece that is hard to manipulate, microwave for 5 seconds to soften it up.   Either use an oval cookie cutter or mold into shape with your hands. 

I also tried to make surfboards with fruit roll ups.  While they have a cooler look, they stick to the wrapper and are very thin.   If your fruit roll up is too sticky, refridgerate it for a few minutes and it will be easier to pull off the wrapper. 

For the intertuber you would need some sort of ring candy.  These peach rings were the perfect size for the Teddy Grahams. 

It is easier to prepare your bears before melting the chocolate for the marshmellows.

Because the jumbo marshmellows are so big, I used a thicker and longer size stick.  If you use the smaller stick your marshmellow will be top heavy. 

Dip in the marshmellows in melted blue candy melts.  Add your swimming and surfing bears on top of the melted chocolate.

Depending on what candy you find,  you can easily change the colors of the intertubes and surfboards. 

I have linked this treat up on many incrediable blogs.  Please make sure to check out my linky party page and check them out!

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Snacktastic Chick

I found this cute cheesy chick snack on a site called Snacktastic by Kraft.  These bite size snacks are simple and cute and perfect for a farm party, animal party  or just because.  To see the video on how to make individual chick cracker or other fun snacks, check out makeitsnacktastic.yahoo.com here

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Baseball Pudding Dessert

Any baseball fans out there?  How about making this baseball themed pudding dessert from Kraftrecipes.com.  You can see how to make it here.

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And Then It Hit Me..

We had 23 acts of talented 4th graders singing, dancing and doing comedy.   Because I had helped the music teacher several times this year with  her sound system,  I was asked to be in charge of the music player again.   I had the perfect view right on the side of the stage.     When the show was over, I quickly ran to the back of the gym to try and get a group shot.     My daughter and one of her best friends sang the song, Who Says, by Selena Gomez.

It was when I came up to hug my daughter and her friends to tell them how proud of them I was, I started to cry.  It was then that it really hit me.. it was our last day and we were done with the elementary school that has been part of our lives for 8 years. A good friend, who was my son's parapro in 1st and 2nd saw me at that time, and asked me if I was okay.   I assured her I was, it was just at that moment, I was a bit overwhelmed.   After a few minutes, I was okay again, and it was time to enjoy the last 45 mins of school. 

This year they did something at the very end of the day that they had not done before.  All the younger students and teachers lined the hallways and clapped for the 4th graders as they walked down the hallways for the last time.  Of course, Kara was the very last 4th grader in line..  LOL!!

Even though I was at the school, Kara said she wanted to ride the bus home with her friends.  Her older brother who transfers buses at her school, not so much.  I drive him home, and then we waited for Kara at the bus stop.   Here my brand new 5th grader is getting of the bus..  (sniff!)

A good friend of mine has a house on a lake. She invited us over for an impromtu end of the school year  cookout.  We ate  lunch of grilled hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans, and watermelon. Yum!!      

After lunch the kids took the rowboat out for a short boat ride and some fishing..   Let the summer begin!

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It's the Final Countdown!!!

In 22 hours, school will be out for the summer.   My extremely busy schedule will also slow down significantly.  Today we have  the last few end of the years activities, field day for one child and talent show dress rehearsal for another. I went to have lunch with my daugthers class for the last time and we had a mini luau party.    After 8 years at an elementary school that I love,  my last child will have finished up her last class.  I will miss so many of the teachers and parents from that school.  Right now I am in complete denial that I am done, because it does not seem real yet.  I dont think it will hit me until next year when we do not go back to the school.  I have had many teachers tell me these last few days that I better come back to visit.  Tomorrow will be such  a bittersweet day.   

Let's limbo!

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Golf Cake for Dad

Now that school is out (or almost out), its time to think Father's Day.  Is the father in your life a golfer?  If so, how about this Tee Time Cake from FamilyFun.com.  It is not that difficult put together and will be something that almost any dad will enjoy.  To see how to make this cake, you can see how here.

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My May Coupon Totals

I just finished my May totals, and it was a pretty good month of couponing.   

Groceries..   I saved $172.29 in coupons, $202.15 in sales for an overall total of $374.44.    I spent only $338  for the month.  I bought $712.44 in groceries at a 53% savings.  I bought 29 totally free items

Other... I saved $212.71 in other coupons at Target, Fantastic Sams, Walgreens, Arbys, Boarders, Olgas, and JoAnns and Fridays. 

My total coupon savings for May $385.

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Pretty Paper Flowers

Do you like the look of paper flowers, but  are not sure how to make them?   I just came across a super simple tutorial on how to make pretty paper flowers out of  CREPE PAPER STREAMERS.    The possiblities of what you could do with these flowers is endless.  Use them to embellish a present,  or for party decor, make a  teacher gift  and so much more.     To see how to make this pretty flowers, check out the blog Today's Fabulous Finds here.

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Wonderful Watermelon

I follow a blog called Sun Scholars .  Yesterday she posted the coolest watermelon shark treat that is absolutely perfect for our upcoming Beach Bash Birthday.  I showed it to Kara and she loved it too.   I now  know at least one item that will definitely be  on our menu.  If you would like to see how to make a shark watermelon of your own, make sure to see how at SunScholars.blogspot.com  here.

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New Month=New Coupons

New coupons are available on Coupons.com
Some good ones to check out 

$1 off 2 Edys Slow Churned Shakes and Smoothies

.50 off 2 Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad

.50 off Reeses Puffs cereal

$1 off HP Colorlok Printer Paper

$1 off Kraft Deli Deluxe Cheese

$1 off 2 Boulder Canyon chips

and many more..

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I Survived The Survivor Party

The 4th graders had a very busy day yesterday.   In the morning they went to the high school for an end of th year swim.  They got back to school a little before noon.   They then munched on a lunch of hot dogs, chips,  fruit, cookies and lemonade. (just realized I forgot to take a pic..oops)  After lunch they divided up to their color teams.  We have four 4th grade classes.  Each class was given a color and bandanas.  Kara's class was green and their team name was the Green Gators.  Other color teams were red, yellow and blue. 

Each class had team flags that they brought to each activity.    If they won an particular activity they earned a smaller cloth flag ot tie on to the team flag.  

Each class had to make a shelter out of large cardboard boxes and tarps.  Here the red class is building their shelter. 

Here our green team has finished thier shelter and are waiting for the judges to come take a look.   All 4 classes did a great job.  They shelters were then taken down quickly beause it was extremely windy and they were worried the carboard would blow away.  

It was then time for the games.  I am not posting a lot of the game pictures because I have some close up pics of some of her classmates, and  only post pics where you can see other children's faces  with permission. 

The first game was a puzzle solving game.  Boxes of cereral were cut up and teams had to see how quickly they could solve the puzzle.  

We also had a pong type game where the kids bounced ping pong balls into tiki cups. 

It was then back outside for the next round of races. They had a potato sack race and a three legged race.   It was extremly hot and humid yesterday so the planning moms did a great job of alternating between inside and outside to keep the kids as cool as possible.  

It was then time for the dreaded eatting game.   Some of the yummy (blech) treats were pictured above. Each child had to spin a wheel  which landed on such food earth worms, used q-tips and blood clots.. Yuck.. Some of the food tasted good, but had a gross name.  Some of the food looked good, but tasted gross, like the bloody slugs. (gummy worms covered in ketchup)   My daughter was the only one that landed on chef's choice.  Luckily the mom in charge was a friend of mine and she was nice to my non adventureous daugther.  She gave her earth worms (purple jello that had been moldedi in a straw) and used q-tips. (mini marshmellows dipped in caramel)

It was then time for the last games of the day.  We were going to do a parachute and beach ball game but had to cancel it due to it being way too windy.    Since it was so warm,  they did have the water games which consided of a water bucket race and a water ballon hand off. 

Everyone also enjoyed a blue snow cone to end the day.  

After a couple of hours of rest, it was time for the 6th grade farewell.   This was the first one we had attended because our oldest had 6th grade at another school.    The first part of the evening was spent in the gym.  The principal talked to the students and handed out awards for A honor roll and perfect attendance.   My son was on AB honor roll, so he should get his award in his classroom today.       It was then  off to the cafeteria for some ice cream.   Many of the teachers were on hand to talk to the parents.     The final activity of the night was a fun one.  Each of the children were give an a ballon to release at a send off ceremony.  It was quite beautiful to see. 

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