The BIG Haircut!!!

Two of my 6th graders, Tatum and Tyler B., were drawn in a raffle to cut off my ponytails today. The kids had been collecting tickets for this raffle since Sept., so they were pretty excited about it. I asked them to cut off 8 inches, but they ended up cutting TEN INCHES off on each side! My hair was thick enough to get two big ponytails from, so I'll be sending in 20 inches of hair total.

Danae Domenichini, who I work with, also let two students (Aimee and Taylore) cut 28 inches off her hair!!! Another student of mine, Kylee, had cut her hair a while ago and brought me a 10-inch ponytail, so all-together we're going to donate 58 inches of hair to be made into a wig for someone who has lost her hair due to cancer treatment.

WHAT A FUN DAY!!!

Our latest muffin recipe

Today we had the day off for Veteran's Day, so, following our "weekend" tradition, the kids and I made another batch of delicious muffins! This time, we decided it would be fun to use a flavor of the season, so we made PUMPKIN-CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS, and boy, are they yummy!

The recipe:

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate chip muffins complete with Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels and nutritious Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin are great for breakfast or brunch!

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.) 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease thirty-six 2 ½-inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups. Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Add pumpkin and oil; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until moistened. Stir in morsels. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove from pans.

Kristi's Baby Shower in Vacaville

Yesterday we traveled to Vacaville for Kristi's baby shower.
She & Brian are not expecting their baby until late January, but with the holidays coming up, we held her shower now rather than when things get so busy. It was a lot of driving in the pouring rain, but it was a blast to see everyone and get the kids together!

My mom and I.

Avery giving her cousin Owen a snuggle.

Sweet Aiden

Julian and James in their "secret fort"

Anna giving her little guy a smooch!

"Fokey Bear"

James loves this bear. My brother, Jeremy, used to haul this bear around when we were little, so it's already a well-loved bear, tattered and worn. Whenever we're visitng my parent's house, James hauls "Fokey Bear" all over the place just like Jeremy used to. Jeremy originally named him "Smokey Bear," but he always struggled with his "S/F" sounds, so "Fokey Bear" stuck and it's what we call him to this day.

Last time we were up for a visit, James decided he needed to take Fokey home with us so he could sleep in his bunkbed with him. On the way home he asked me, "Mom, when we get home, can you get out your sewing machine and whip-up some clothes

for Fokey Bear to wear?"

Luckily, my mom saved me by buying Fokey a brand new pirate's outfit from the Build-A-Bear workshop and giving it to James this weekend. James, and Fokey, are thrilled with his new set of duds. Thanks, Grandma!

Trick-or-Treat?!

Our Halloween tradition:
Before picking kids up from day care, we trick-or-treat at a few houses in Kristin's neighborhood. This year we were so early that most people weren't home, but our kids enjoyed this "warm-up round" and it took the edge off their excitement a bit.

We then all pack into our cars and head to our house. We always like to stop by Bill & Joyve Finch's house so they can see the kids, and the kids love it because they give full-sized candy bars!!

Jason makes us a yummy dinner and we visited for a while until it got dark. The Finches and Donnell's usually join us, this year our neighbors, the Hollidays joined us as well with their new baby, Belle.

After dinner, we suit the kids up and hit the streets for some treats! WE LOVE HALLOWEEN!

The perfect match- Darth Vader & Little Red Riding Hood... Little Red Riding Hood sits with her friends, Darth Vader & Storm Trooper.

Brian the Wizard joined us for the evening trick-or-treating!

I even dressed up as Princess Laya to complete our Star Wars Halloween.

Bumble-Bee Diaper Cake

My cousin Kristi's baby shower was this weekend. I wanted to give her a cute, creative, yet useful gift and I didn't feel like hauling out my sewing machine, so I opted to make her a diaper cake! They aren't finding out what the sex of the baby is, so they are decorating with a bumble-bee theme, which made decorating this cake really fun. I used 120 size 1 diapers as well as yellow ribbon with white dots and black-and-white gingham ribbon as well as Burt's Bees line of all-natural baby products called, "Baby Bees." The bees on top were cut out using my Silhouette craft cutter. I was very happy with the result- my first diaper cake was a success!

Healthy Blueberry Flax-Oat Muffins

A friend gave me a big bag of frozen blueberries from the bushes in her yard this summer. It's a tradition for us to make a batch of muffins with the boys on the weekends, so I was looking for a healthy recipe to use the blueberries. I looked and looked and ended up combining a bunch of the recipes and coming up with my own recipe. The muffins turned out so delicious! The boys loved them and I'm eating my second one right now! I love that they are so healthy and packed with blueberries- moist & yummy!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1/2 cup applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup Splenda or sugar

2 tsp. ground flax meal

4 tbsp water

2 eggs

12-oz. yogurt (I used non-fat blueberry flavored)

2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 cup chopped walnuts

*Blend water with flax meal well

*Mix in milk, applesauce, vanilla, Splenda, eggs and yogurt

*In another bowl, mix oats, whole wheat flour, white flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt

*Mix wet ingredients into dry, blend well

*Gently fold blueberries and walnuts into mixture

*Bake 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees

*Makes about 18 jumbo muffins