Nature Scavenger Hunt

Our Summer has begun and one of the CAMP MOM activities that I have scheduled multiple times is the Nature Scavenger Hunt! This one is for the backyard, but I have others set up for certain parks, the zoo etc. Each child gets a mini explorer pack (backpack) filled with a bottle of water, their Fisher Price Cameras, specimen containers, bucket, Ziploc® bags, tweezers, magnifying glass and stickers for labeling if need be along with a marker.

With out entire Summer looming out ahead of us, we are thrilled to get started!

Wordless Wednesday!

An entire afternoon can be spent blowing bubbles!

Focus on your family and let your worries float away!

Menu Plan Monday...

Our Menu:

Monday: Grilled Chicken over salad served with homemade vegetable soup

Tuesday: Taco Bar served with rice

Wednesday: Grilled Shrimp served over stir fry veggies

Thursday: Grilled Italian Sausage sandwiches served with sea salt potato chips

Friday: Last Day of School Dinner Out!

Hope you all have a great week! I'm sure that you can tell the weather is brightening and warming up with all the grilling we have going on!!

Wordless Wednesday...

Grab Dice Collection!

Fill Box with Pinto Beans to Cover Dice!

Race Monster Trucks to Find Dice!

Sometimes a kite can make it all better!

Menu Plan Monday! How I do it!

Welcome back to another week! I hope all you Mommy's out there had an awesome Mother's Day! I know I did! It was great spending a weekend with loved ones and of course getting spoiled myself! Now it's time to get back down to business as I plan out meals for the last week of school, can you believe it's here already?! I honestly feel like I am still trying to get in to Back-to-School mode! We have gardening and planting on the brain lately and are having a blast planting out herb garden. I'm a huge fan of container gardening as it gives children something to care for daily. We like one pot herbs and then we also do a traditional in the dirt garden. The best veggies come right from our backyard!

Most of my meals over the Summer are planned based on what is in Season and fresh at the moment. Whether it be from our own gardens or Farmers Markets I like to ensure that it's as fresh as possible when I can! Due to living in the Midwest we have a dark and cold Season that lasts so long, we are reliant on grocery stores. BOO! 

How do you plan your meals? For me it's my Post-It weekly pad and my day planner. I look at our schedule and what kind of meal would work that day. For example an active evening (family Zumba class) means an earlier and lighter dinner, a busy day at school where we get home from clubs late is usually a perfect day for a Sandwich bar in the warmer months or a crock pot meal in the cooler months. If we have too much going on we allot for a restaurant visit. If they have a particularly crammed week of testing, we try to eat earlier and make it a more filling meal to allow for study time and relaxing as the evening progresses. A lot goes in to how our meals are planned!

Now Let's share my Menu, since I've spent so much time chatting!
Monday: Curry Chicken over Saffron Rice served with Veggies

Tuesday: Egg Salad Sandwiches on Lettuce Leaves instead of bread with Veggie Soup (Homemade)

Wednesday: Pasta with Italian Sausage in the Sauce

Thursday: Quesadilla night with beans, rice and salsa

Friday: Spring Choir Concert with Family in town, out to dinner afterwards.

Short and Sweet!

Shhh...no time for words, we're playing with chalk outdoors today!

Invitation to Plant!

On a rainy day that had too much lightning to even go on a puddle walk, I decided to set this little planting party up for my youngest to do after he got home from school.  We never have too much luck with seeds, but we were given these from McDonald's so I figured he would at least have fun planting them! We put them in biodegradable pots, so that if they do in fact bloom they can be transplanted into the garden.

He was THRILLED when he saw dirt, water and seeds! I didn't say a word and let him figure out what to do with everything on his own. It took him a bit of trial and error with the seed pods, but he eventually realized that putting them in the middle worked best.

Plastic spoons were more practical than shovels with planters of this size. He loved getting his hands dirty!

Pour in the water!

After he was through, we decided to save the spoons instead of throwing them away and used them as temporary plant markers to keep them in order.

When the weather finally got sunny, we headed out to the kid's garden and began to weed and turn the soil!

Menu Plan Monday

Apple Cookies for After School Snack! Apple Slices, Peanut Butter, Sprinkles & Yogurt Raisins!

It's Monday! Time to plan out our menu and hit the grocery store in hopes of not spending an arm and a leg! I hope you all have a great week!

Monday:  Homemade Mexican Chicken Soup. (Tomato Base with Beans)

Tuesday:  Garden Vegetable Salad and Panini's 

Wednesday: Beef And Brown Rice over Veggies

Thursday: Chicken Bruschetta

Friday: Vegetable Burrito Bowl (Rice, Beans, Salsa, Guacamole)

Saturday: Sushi and Miso Soup

Sunday: Out to Dinner for Mother's Day!

Giveaway from PrintRunner!

Hello friends, it's time for a Giveaway! As a small business owner and a Mommy Blogger, there are many things that I do online and most of it is buying promotional materials. I've ordered from many different places and have just recently been introduced to a new one! PrintRunner has an AWESOME selection of items and so many ways to customize them that I seriously needed quite a bit of time to see it all! I'm loving it. Have you ordered from them before?

Let me share a little about their company with you: 

"PrintRunner.com was established with little more than a small press and a dream. Ten years later our company became one of the foremost quality printers in Southern California. Our commitment to provide the best value and high quality full color printing at affordable price made our company grow. PrintRunner is a full service high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, California."

PrintRunner also offers a section on their website with all their current promotions and coupon codes! How convenient! Did you know that not only do they have Sticker Printing Services but you can also Print Online with PrintRunner?! 

Today, PrintRunner is offering all of MichellesCharmWorld readers a chance to experience their fantastic product by winning 250 Custom Stickers! Here are the details:

Sticker Shape : Standard Stickers

Flat Width : 2"
Flat Height : 3.5"
Quantity : 250
Paper : Premium Sticker Stock
Colors : Full Color ( 4 Color Process), Black and White
Proof : NONE
Ready to Ship In : 3 Business Days
*Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. 

A great big THANK YOU to PrintRunner for offering my readers a chance to win their product and for providing MichellesCharmWorld with a set of stickers as well! How exciting!

 This giveaway will end Tuesday, May 15th and I will post about the winner here and I will contact them as well. You are not eligible to win if you have won a giveaway from PrintRunner before within the past 2 months. Please remember that you will also not be given a proof of your stickers. 

*DISCLAIMER* Thank you to PrintRunner for providing us this giveaway, I will receive a set of stickers for hosting this AWESOME Giveaway!!

One Week In Photos...

First Communion!

 My Princess looked like a Princess

Academic Fair, Dressed as the Saint they had to report on!

Playing in the Park

Kicking Rocks on our walk!