Project 26 - I really wanted to like this one. :(

I had some early mornings this summer with camps and other activities, so I have tried to find some healthy breakfast choices that are easy to make.  I saw this pin for the overnight slow cooker oatmeal, and I thought I would give it a try.  The recipe can be found at the blog, The Yummy Life.

I love oatmeal.  In the winter, I will make the rolled oats with some butter, brown sugar and walnuts.  One of my favorite things to enjoy with a cup of coffee when it's chilly outside. :)  I thought this recipe would be perfect!  I had a garage sale to get up early for the next morning, so I got everything set up and ready to go. 

I woke up in the morning to a wonderful aroma of cinnamon and apples.  Smelled sooo good!  My mouth was almost watering as I scooped out some of the oatmeal into my bowl.

Looks good, huh?  I guess I should preface this with the fact that I have never had steel cut oats before.  Not that I am a texture aversive type of person.  I love the chewy texture of the regular rolled oats, so I am not sure if that was what did me in.  Anyways, I took a bite of my oatmeal, and for some reason, my body just rejected it.  Something about the taste and the texture at the same time caused a gag reflex that caused me to spit it out immediately!  I thought I would try again thinking that maybe since I was prepared for the flavor, and maybe I just didn't get a sweeter part of the oatmeal it didn't mesh the flavors right.  I stirred it up, took another bite, and same reaction.  I thought better to not try again if I wanted to be able to eat anything else that morning. 

Bummer!!!  Like I said, I really wanted to like this one.  It looked good, it smelled good, and it was super healthy!  Not meant to be I guess.  Guess it's back to my rolled oats.

Project 25 - Ice Cream in a Baggie

Who doesn't like ice cream?!?  I am especially fond of this summer treat.  So fond in fact that is contributed in me gaining over 50 lbs. when I was pregnant with my son.  Gotta love those summer pregnancies! :)  I have such great memories of making ice cream in a baggie in the many years that I worked summer camp at the YMCA as a young adult, so it was great to relive that with my own kiddos!

I found the recipe on the pin that led me to the blog, 2 Little Hooligans.  Super cute blog with lots of other fun stuff to check out. :)  We followed the very simple directions to make our ice cream.  The kids had a blast measuring, pouring, and shaking up our ice cream.  We added a little bit of strawberry syrup to make it flavored.  It took awhile to shake, but the end result was very worth it!  Homemade strawberry ice cream that the kids were very proud of and equally excited to eat.

We added some fresh strawberries and whipped cream to complete our yummy treat!

Project 24 - Sandpaper Crayon shirts

Hello!  It's been awhile since I have been able to post, but I have kept to my resolution of continuing to try new projects!  I have also decided that instead of titling my posts by project # instead of by the week.  I was getting a little confused at the week #, and as long as I hit 52 projects I have met my goal! :)

I was inspired to do this project with my kiddos that I found on, of course, Pinterest!

The pin lead me to the blog, AlphaMom. The directions were very easy to understand and follow.  I had the kids color the scene that they wanted on the sandpaper.  I did remind them to push hard with the crayons, and that the image they were drawing would be reversed in case they wanted to write something on it. 

They set to work very excited about the scenes they were going to draw for their shirts.  Aiden of course was drawing a scene from outer space, since he wants to be a scientist astronaut (his words) when he grows up.  Baylie, not to be outdone, also did an outer space scene, but in true Baylie-style, she was a princess astronaut. 

When they finished I ironed on the decorations per the websites directions.  They came out great!

They were very proud to wear the shirts that they had designed!  I have washed them a couple times (cold water, inside out), and they still look great.

This project is mom and kid approved!  Works with little or big ones, as long as they can mark a color or a page. :)