Nanny's Corner ~ Scrapbooking Birthday Party Ideas

In keeping with Heather's birthday party theme ideas, I thought I would share with you some of  my scrap book pages from these birthday parties.  I don't know if I have more fun at the parties, or scrap booking the pictures after the party! When you scrap book and journal your pages you look back and have so many wonderful memories.  I tell my husband that one day these could be my only memories....hopefully that won't be the case...but at any rate they are beautiful pages filled with precious memories.

Here are just a few of the pages I have scrapbooked and journaled.  As you can see, I try to use pictures of the cake and decorations as embellishments for the pages. I also like to do cutouts and take the backgrounds out when possible, so that you actually end up with more detail and your photos are the focal point. Hope these pages will give you some ideas to work on.  Happy Scrapbooking!

Princess Party Theme...I actually used her Tiara as an embellishment on this page.

This was her Tea Party Themed birthday party.

This one is her Madhatter themed Party....Heather made her cake for this one also..

Another Princess Party Theme

Cake Pops and Zebra Stripes Theme....

I made snuggle pillows for the girls to decorate during the party.

They had a blast decorating them with all the goodies we had set out for them.


      Love and Hugs,
                   

Wacky Wednesday! ~ Awesome Chore Chart!

Morning everyone, and Happy Hump Day! Hope y'all are doing well. So, recently I became tragically aware of how badly we needed to come up with a good system to keep track of the little ones' chores. They have a tendency to become distracted very easily, and forget their chores...sometimes right after I tell them what they are supposed to do...go figure!

So I broke in my brand spankin' new Cricut Mini (with this awesome cartridge for chores) and came up with this cute chore chart system. I went to dollar tree (my absolute FAVE store) and got one piece of the really thick foam poster board. Then I chose which chores we needed to have for each child from the Cricut cartridge. I picked some cute papers and cut all of the chores with my Cricut. I also used one of my favorite fonts to cut each of their names, and the words Chore Chart. 

After I had everything cut, and the layout figured out, I cut the foam board in half. Then I laminated each cut out and each piece of foam board (after laying out the lettering on the board). I was trying to figure out a good way to stick their chores onto the chart, and ended up opting for the small velcro dots, that way they can put on and take off daily.

Last, but not least, I added a baggie at the bottom of each chart for the chores to be stored in. This has been working very well for them. They absolutely love being able to put them up by themselves after each chore is completed. Not to mention the fact that now, if they forget their chores, all they have to do is get them out of the baggies and see exactly what they have left to do! No more bugging Momma, or having to nag them! Priceless :) 

In case any of you are wondering how they are rewarded, this is our system: If they complete all of their chores on their chart in one day, I add a star on the side of their chart using a dry erase marker. Each star is worth one dollar, up to 5 max per week. That gives them the opportunity to earn 5 dollars per week, and encourages them to finish all of them daily, instead of skipping one or two.  

I hope this helps give you some inspiration for your own chore systems. I am also always open to new ideas if anyone has any to share! Have a great rest of your day y'all!

 Till next time...

Champion Family Weekly Menu (a little late)

Hey y'all, I was thinking of ways to share our everyday family life with you, and ways to share more ideas, and one of the things I came up with is to share our weekly menu planning process. Now on Sundays (except this week, because I was slacking a little, we had a trip to Six Flags with some awesome friends) I am going to post our family menu for the following week. Hopefully this will help y'all to come up with some different ideas, and also help me actually follow and STICK TO our weekly meal planner. So here goes... 

Breakfast - Choice of cereal, fruit and oatmeal, or a bagel with cream cheese

Lunch - Right now the kiddos are at school, so I really just find whatever sounds good at the time, lol

Dinner - 

Monday: Chicken Cacciatore (a real fancy way of saying chicken spaghetti)

Tuesday: Yummy Bacon cheeseburgers/ Homemade french fries

Wednesday: Barbeque pork tenderloin / Broccoli and cheese rice

Thursday: Leftovers (yeah, I know...really creative, hehe)

Friday: Ramen Noodles w/Hamburger / Green beans

Saturday: Eat Out Night!! Yay, NO COOKIN!

Sunday: Homemade Baked Chicken Nuggets / Mac-N-Cheese / Corn

Hope y'all got some good ideas, and if you would like any of the recipes from the menu, just ask in the comments section, and I will gladly give 'em up!

Till next time...

MANIC MONDAY!!!

Just another Manic Monday! Today we are partying hard! Well at least we will think about partying, hehe! I have put together some of my favorite kids birthday party themes that we have had in our ginormous family, and want to share them with y'all. Trust me, I know how stressful planning a kid's birthday party can be, from figuring out a theme, to decorating, and making the cake. So hopefully some of our ideas, will help spark some of your own creativity!

First, we will look at a princess party. What little girl doesn't want to have a princess party?!? 

This cake is the one I did for Hailey's princess party..the newest princess party. (she has had three of them all together, lol!)

 
                                                             Make a wish little princess!

               
For her third birthday I did a really fun princess cake, using a round glass bowl to bake the cake in, and a small round cake pan for the bottom of the dress, then just added half a barbie to the top, and icing all over for the dress (which by the way, the hubs really thought the icing on the barbie's top was amusing)...soo much fun!

 
                       
I know some of you may remember our "Zack Ops" party we had for my army/video game obsessed son. Here is a reminder for some of you who may not have seen the cake and the invites that I came up with for this one. It was soo much fun!

 

Oh, and then there was the last party we had for Hailey, who is currently 8 and obsessed with the whole Zebra stripes craze! But let me tell you, I had a blast doing that party! It was my second attempt with cake pops, and the first (and probably last) HUGE sleepover with EVERY single one of her girlfriends. Thanks to one of my best friends, Desiree, and my Nanny...we all survived, hehe.

Here is the damage on that one:

The cake pops were super easy to make, no baking involved (which is a bonus for me for sure, since I am definitely NOT the baker in this family) The zebra bricks were actually just green foam blocks from the floral department, and I painted them white with the black zebra stripes. I was pretty proud of this party! Super cute, and super cheap! I actually only spent just over 20 bucks on this one, including cake pops and decor. Oh, and by the way...that is Nanny behind my counter, the one from Nanny's Corner!

I have made a couple of cakes for one of my best friends, Crystal and her kids. Actually it has turned into a tradition, that any time she or her kids have a birthday, I make the cake. Here are what some of them have been.

This one was a fun wrestling ring cake for C.J.

 

And this one was a lot of fun too, Jaiden's Motorcycle Racing cake!

Well ladies and gentlemen, I really hope y'all got some good inspiration here, and if there are any details or instructions you would like, just let me know in  the comments, and I will be sure to give you whatever info you need. See Ya Wednesday!

Till next time...

Nannys Corner: Summertime! Funtime!

Whoa!  Where have the months gone? It has been a while since Heather and I have been on here posting to our blog.  As Heather explained things have been rather "insanely" crazy for past several months in both our lives actually.  Hers more so than mine....but nevertheless we are back! I thought since it is summertime I would share a couple of easy summertime dessert recipes with you, and some of my favorite pictures of my great-grandchildren having some summertime fun!

 

Recently I came across a really simple summertime sweet snack for the kiddies. (Try and say that 5 times fast!)

It's called:      Peanut Butter Cupcake Brownies

To make, use any store bought Brownie Mix per instructions.  Pour a heaping teaspoon of batter into prepared mini muffin pans.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.  Makes approximately 40 mini muffins.

While these are baking melt 3/4 C. peanut butter in the microwave for 45 seconds.  After you remove brownies from oven...if the centers don't sink with the back of a spoon make a slight indentation in each.  Into each indentation, spoon a teaspoon of the melted peanut butter into each.  Then sprinkle the tops with a mixture of 1/2 C. peanut butter and 1/2 C. chocolate chips.  These are so easy and quick, and it's something the little ones can help with in the kitchen.  Hope you enjoy them.  They are yummy!

Love and Hugs,

                        

Many Apologies!

Hey y'all! I just want to apologize for not posting lately... well actually for about 6 months now. It has been C.R.A.Z.Y. in the Champion household...crazier than usual, lol! I have been having a lot of health issues, and have started working from home babysitting, so my free time is much more limited. Did I mention that including my own kids, I have 7 kids during the week??? Yes! I am insane! But I love the insanity for sure. When I have no kids in the house, I have no idea what to do with myself...go figure! So, to sum it all up, I was slacking for a while, but now I am back and I will try my hardest to post on a regular basis again. I will make the time :) Coming up next... Little People Party Themes!

Till next time...

'Tis the season for...Trees!!

So I have really been slacking here lately, my apologies. So much bustle around my house getting ready for Christmas. Actually, it kinda looks like Christmas came and puked inside my house! Such a sparkly mess...but it will get better, of this I am sure. The first order of business in  my house, is the tree, which is finally up and beautified...pictures will be coming soon. (I only have night shots of it, and really want to show all of the beautiful blues and silvers in the daytime) So in the spirit of Christmas, and of giving myself a HUGE small pat on the back for getting our tree up, I have scoured the net in search of some beautiful, and some very unique Christmas trees. Here ya go y'all!

So Victorian, I love this one..

This one reminds me of Charlie Brown, adorable!

What?!? Still love it though!

This little one makes me shiver..brrr!

This one just looks so fun!!

I really like this one, and I am not a huge fan of white trees, but WOW!

I hope y'all got some yuletide inspiration from these great trees, and don't forget to check out Nanny's Corner for the beautiful Poinsettia tree. Also, I will be posting next my awesome Santa wreath, and some other pretty ones I have seen along the way! Happy decorating!

Nanny's Corner: Beautiful Poinsettia Tree

This time of year the time just seems to fly by. Before we know it Christmas is only 15 days away and we are behind the eight ball.  Literally trying to juggle all eight at once.  Tee Hee    I really meant to get this post up last week, but as you can tell by my lateness things are not getting any less hectic.

I hope that everyone had as wonderful Thanksgiving as I did.  We enjoyed three of our grandchildren-- Heather with her husband Josh and children Hailey and Zack;  Kristy and her daughter Anna (Kyla was sick); Weston our grandson, plus daughters Terri and Connie for Thanksgiving dinner.  We had such a great time with them.

Now if I can just get everything done I am supposed to for Christmas I will feel pretty good about the New Year fast approaching.  LOL

My cousin Doug Hinkle made his mother a Poinsettia Tree for Christmas this year and I wanted to share with you how he made it.  If you or someone you know is at all handy with a saw and hammer this is pretty easy to make.  Takes lots of Poinsettia's (depends on how tall you want your tree) but well worth it when you see the finished product.

First he built an "A" frame with a circle on top and a square on bottom to stabilize it.
Next he added construction cloth to cover the frame.

Now it's time to begin adding the Poinsettias.  WOW!  Just look at the finished tree with lights on it.
He used a child's table to set this one on so there is plenty of room below to put all of Santa's gifts.  You could use the same concept and make a table center piece..just on a smaller scale.  Hope you enjoy trying this one.

Until next time, Love and Hugs

Vacation

Phew! Thanksgiving is over and now begins the countdown to Christmas... Am I prepared???  Of course NOT!  But I will surely try. I cant wait to pick out our tree this weekend, and use all of those decorations that I bought during the after Christmas sales last year...yay!  My wheels are turning for some Christmas projects I would like to tackle, and new cookies and treats to burn bake. I am not at home today, we are actually on vacation still, so I am really lucky to get any internet signal where I am at, soo I can't actually use any websites I need to use to add pics this time. I guess what I am saying is this is just me stopping in to say hey! Nothing real fun, or interesting. Sorry y'all!  When I get home I will be putting up a fun Christmas Wreath post, I can't wait for y'all to see it!

 Till next time...

Thanksgiving Togetherness

   

What is one of the things in our day to day lives that we take for granted the most? Our families, and the fact that they may be there today, and then tomorrow they may be gone. All too often we blow through our day, only to get to the end of it and then get up and start all over again...when we should be stopping along the way and enjoying all of those special little moments that we cannot get back once they have passed.We should be s-l-o-w-i-n-g down and taking in all of those little quirks that we grow to hate love in each other, and we should be enjoying every waking moment we have with these loved ones, because this crazy life we live does not last forever. When I die I want to have no regrets. Most of all, I do not want to be wishing, or leaving loved ones wishing...that we had said more, done more, felt more. I want to know that I have left them feeling more loved than humanly possible, so that there is no doubt in their minds how I feel about them. 

   This is the time of year that we should all band together and spend that extra time away from work, or school, together just enjoying each other. We all have our differences, and differences of opinion. All of our lives take different paths, and God leads us each down different roads, but the one constant should always be family. The one thing you should always be able to count on is your family, and vice verse, your family able to count on you.This time of year, we put all of our differences aside, and disagreements get checked at the door, and we just enjoy those special moments, remembering why we love each other to begin with.

I am going to leave you all with some ideas for special family togetherness activities that everyone can enjoy, and I hope you all actually try some of them out, or at least just take a few minutes out of your busy schedules to enjoy each other, Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!!

Nothing brings people together like joining a good cause, or supporting a charity. Click here for some ideas...

 

Family Tradition...start a tradition, something that you all can do together every year. One example is breaking the wishbone, and the person who ends up with the longer piece, gets their wish!

Make Family Survey Place Mats...a great way to get to know each other better! Learn more here...

A Thankful Tablecloth...just might be the best idea I have seen for a family Thanksgiving craft yet!  Here is where I found this gem of an idea...

I hope everyone has a very Blessed Thanksgiving!!!


Till next time...