Under the Sea Muffin Tin Monday

Earthquakes and hurricanes, oh my! We are in full hurricane preparation mode here in Virginia Beach while Ryan "enjoys" the desert of Fallon, NV, but early this week we enjoyed a fun playdate with friends followed by the largest earthquake experienced in this area in over 100 years. A little 5.8 (this description coming from the California girl, not the locals).


Our Muffin Tin Monday playdate technically took place on Tuesday since I have microbiology lab during the lunch hour on Mondays. Fortunately, the little ones are very forgiving. All of the moms brought a themed snack to share and I brought 3 snacks since we had two moms that needed to back out at the last minute. The fun fish-shaped bread was Nathan's request and quite tasty! We also picked up Sponge Bob Cheese Nips and Sponge Bob Graham Crackers. I had planned to make shell pasta, but ran out of time. The ocean-themed cookies were perfect as well! Notice we also had fish sticks and Swedish fish. Fun!!!

After lunch and more fun on the park's playground, each child took a break from the sun and worked on a simple fun foam craft. I had lots of ocean/fish fun foam and stickers on hand so we just dumped it all out and gave each child glue and blue construction paper. It doesn't get any easier than that! I attempted to cut up tissue paper squares so each child could decorate a chipboard fish, but the wind was gusting at random. We decided to save that craft for an indoor playdate.


My silly boys wearing their fish sunglasses which I purchased from Discount School Supply forever ago. After 3 hours of playing and crafting, Nathan was not interested in posing for this photo at all. Too bad! Ian was a great sport, on the other hand. With all of the crazy weather predicted for this weekend, I am so glad we had the chance to spend the better part of a day at the park this week. Thank goodness for 82 degree weather!


Okay, back to laundry and other tasks that require electricity.

Another "Ah Ha" Moment

I am still filling the freezer. I wasn't as motivated as I had hoped the other day. Ryan and I did manage to make 3 dishes/condiments (smashed potato soup - slow cooker, red beans and rice & chipotle ranch salad dressing), but then we ended up eating a bunch of it instead of rushing it to the freezer. Whoops!

As I type this, I'm making breakfast sandwiches to freeze. I'm making 12 and we will eat 4 tomorrow and 2 will be going to the parents of a beautiful new baby from our squadron (along with dinner and dessert). I decided to mix up the eggs and put them in a greased muffin tin in order to get a neat, round egg layer. We'll see how it turns out. Sounds like a good idea, right?

Back to Reality

Ryan returns to work tomorrow and we will be back to "normal". This normal will last for a couple weeks before he leaves again. In preparation, we've been working on small projects around the house (Ryan has, I've been taking a break from projects), hanging out not doing much of anything, attempting to buy a new car (that's a funny story), etc.

Tomorrow is my day to build up my stash of freezer meals. I'll try to remember to take pictures and share the recipes. Having homemade meals and snacks ready to go in the freezer brings me peace of mind and somehow makes me feel prepared to be a solo parent. With a new school year and completely new schedule for our family on the horizon, I want to FILL the freezer.


I saw this idea on Pinterest (my current Internet obsession) and wondered why the heck I never thought to do this before now. My boys love smoothies or yogurt for dessert. I now have 6 packs ready to go and Ryan just returned from the store with yogurt so I can make at least 8 more packs tomorrow. Make-ahead freezer smoothie packs - 1 cup frozen fruit, 3-4plain (or vanilla) frozen yogurt cubes (from yogurt frozen in an ice cube tray), then simply put in a blender, add milk or juice, and whirl until smooth. Genius!