Free Printable: End of School Year Questionnaire

We're finishing up our school year around here and besides celebrating with ice cream parties, water-balloon parties, and all-around high fives, I thought it would be fun for the kids to complete an end of the year questionnaire. I'm sure several years down the road they'll enjoy looking back at their answers (or laughing at their answers), determining if they've met their goals, and most of all, reliving some of those special elementary memories!

I created a simple kid's questionnaire and asked my kids to fill it out one morning. As we answered the questions, it turned into a morning of remembering the so many great times during this school year.

If you have a child who just finished up the school year, maybe you'd like to ask them a few questions and save their answers. The questionnaire is available for your personal use for FREE.... download, print or just pass along the link: Kid's End of Year Questionnaire

Click the link above to download the pdf file. Print on white 8.5x11" paper, then complete the questions with your child and save it to look back several years later. Enjoy these years!

Spring Home Tour

Since I've last logged into this blog (about two years ago), there's been plenty of art created and furniture rearranged, but the most precious addition to our family, is a new baby! He's now scooting around with a huge smile on his face, and loving the attention he gets from morning to night. He might just be the cutest baby on the planet... yes, I might be a little biased.

Even though I'm not quite ready to start blogging on a regular basis just yet, I thought I'd sneak on here and share some recent photos while the baby is napping and the older three are outside playing "camping". These photos were snapped after the house was cleaned and the pillows were fluffed; my house does not look like this on a normal day. If you're coming over for dinner, it might, but stop by unannounced and mostly likely you'll walk through legos, and blocks, and school papers and books stacked on just about every table, dirty laundry in a pile, and folded laundry that has a hard time making it to the bedroom closets.

It's fun to look at these clean photos; I love a clean house! But as I'm going through this season of life I'm trying to embrace the messes and love life with these little ones who I've been called to raise. They're precious and much better than a clean and perfect house!

Free Printable: Spa Party

Spa parties are so much fun to relax with girlfriends, eat yummy food and most importantly put up your feet!  The spa party I hosted last week was definitely relaxing and if you're thinking about planning a party, I say GO FOR IT!  To make planning easy, I have a few free printables for you below..... from invites to food labels, you'll be ready for a party.

Spa Invites

I hosted a Mary Kay spa party, so I created one invite with Mary Kay noted on top and another blank spa invite.  Directions: click the arrow below to download the pdf file or click the printer icon to print.  Print on 8.5x11" heavy white/cream colored cardstock.  Once printed, cut down the middle, both horizontal and vertical.  Fill in the blanks with party specifics, place in envelopes (the fuchsia color matches the pink on the invites), then address and place in the mail.  There are four invitations per sheet.

Food Labels & Party Labels

I labeled our food and party supplies with these pink labels.  Directions: click the arrow below to download the pdf file or click the printer icon below to print.   Print on 8.5x11" white/cream colored cardstock, trim the edges, then fold in the middle to stand.  Label with a food name, special instruction, etc.  (If you don't have a program to add text to the label before printing, you could write on the label with a fancy marker or use lettered stamps to add info.)

Nail Polish Sheet

I created a nail polish sheet to make it easier for guests to select a polish.  Nail polish always looks a bit different in the bottle than on the nail, so I painted a quick swatch next to the name of the polish to help when choosing a color.  Directions: click the arrow below to download the pdf file or click the printer icon below  to print.   Print on 8.5x11" white/cream colored cardstock, write nail polish names on the line, paint a small color of the polish in the square.  Hang for guests to see.

Enjoy a relaxing night whether it's with 2 friends or 20!

My spa party printables are available to print and/or download for your personal use.  All free!  So go ahead and download, print or just pass along the link... have fun!
Spa Invite
Spa Invite - Mary Kay version
Food Labels
Nail Polish Chart

Spa Party

My sister was in town to visit earlier this week.... she made a quick stop here in Houston while on her way to Dallas for a Mary Kary conference.  It was her first trip to Houston, so we explored a little around town and she experienced life in TX.  We knew after a few days of busyness, we'd want to relax and pamper ourselves.  Since she's a Mary Kay director with so many great products in stock, we thought making food, inviting friends and having a spa party (a Mary Kay spa party) would be the perfect end to a visit!

I mailed invites and planned a party full of food, drinks and spa treatments....

As friends arrived, we lingered around the food table sharing our week's adventures and tasting new treats.

Spa Food

• Cheese platter:  petit frere, aged cheddar, Gorgonzola, wafer crackers, dried cherries, Mediterranean mix of olives, candied walnuts
• red, seedless grapes
• caramelized onion and apple tarts with Gruyere & thyme
• anchoiade with radishes, cucumbers, carrots & celery
• apricot almond shortbread bars
• sprouted grain mini brownies topped with whipped cream & raspberries

Spa Drinks

• Sangria (recipe from my all time favorite, "Bride & Groom: First & Forever Cookbook")
• white wine
• iced green tea infused with citrus
• water infused with cucumbers & mint
• coffee
• hot tea

We slowly moved into the living room with our plates and drinks to begin a night of pampering.  My sister and I set several spa supplies and lighted votive candles on various tables around the living room.

Spa Supplies

• q-tips
• cotton balls
• facial pads
• nail filers
• nail polish remover pads (so much better than using a bottle and cotton balls) 
• nail polish
• toe spacers (flavored tootsie rolls, more details below)
• towels
• mirrors
• tons of Mary Kay products

During the party we pampered our face, arms, legs, hands and feet.  We used all Mary Kay products (MK products are listed in parenthesis), but any homemade or store bought products would work for a spa party too!

Spa Treatments

• facial and eye cleanse (MK TimeWise 3-in-1 cleanser, Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover) 
• microdermabrasion (MK TimeWise Microdermabrasion)
• facial mask (MK TimeWise Moisture Renewing Gel Mask)
• facial moisturizer (MK TimeWise Age Fighting Moisturizer)
• eye soothing (MK Firming Eye Cream, Indulge Soothing Eye Gel with Calming Influence)
• lip mask & balm (MK Satin Lips)
• body lotion (MK TimeWise Body Targeted-Action Toning Lotion)
• pedicure (soaked feet in tub of warm water with MK 2-in-1 Body Wash & Shave, used MK Satin Hands to soften and scrub, MK Mint Bliss Energizing Lotion for Feet & Legs to moisturize, then finished with nail filers and polish)
• manicure (MK Satin Hands to soften, scrub & moisturize, then finished with nail filers and polish)

To make nail polish selections easier, I created a sheet with polish names, then painted a square with the actual polish color....

We used the tootsie footsies (tootsie rolls) as toe spacers while applying the nail polish (or you could just go ahead and eat them!).

Great night.... I'm relaxed and had a fun time visiting with my sister!

Later in the week, I'll make the spa invite, food labels and more available as a free download.
Update: Spa party printables

Recipe: Easy, Delicious Nachos

The husband was out of town for a few days and to welcome him back, the kids wanted to help make a special dinner.  With three little ones in the kitchen, I wanted to make something easy.  No mess.  Not much clean-up (well, as little clean-up as possible).  We excitedly agreed on nachos.  Nachos = happy kids!  And I also found out, nachos = happy husband.

These delicious nachos were so easy to make.... just a bunch of layers piled high.  And, to make it even easier, I bought all the toppings already prepared, no chopping involved! (pre-cut vegetables are packaged in a container in the produce aisle at my local grocery store, I love it!)

Delicious Nachos Recipe

Ingredients

• lightly salted tortilla chips, about a 14oz bag
• pico de gallo (there is usually a variety... original, black bean, corn, mango, pineapple or a combination - I like to combine the original in mild, original in medium, and one made with a mixture of black beans and corn).  For a full baking sheet piled high, I buy about 48oz.
• 1c green onions
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 24oz cheddar cheese

  
Directions (looks long, but it's not):

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• line baking sheet with aluminum foil
• spread tortilla chips in a thin layer covering entire baking sheet
• sprinkle thin layer of shredded cheddar cheese over chips
• spoon about 12oz of pico de gallo mixture over cheese
• sprinkle green onions over pico de gallo
• sprinkle an extra-thin layer of shredded cheddar cheese over onions
• add more chips
• add thin layer of cheese
• add more pico de gallo
• a little bit of onions
• little bit of cheese
• more chips
• more cheese
• pico de gallo
• some onions
• cheese
• chips again
• lots of cheese
• top with pico all over the top
• sprinkle with cilantro
•  place baking sheet on middle rack in oven for about 15 min, until top cheese is golden brown and cheese in middle has warmed and melted
• remove from oven

Serve immediately to hungry little ones and a happy husband!  We add guacamole on the side (I bought our guac already made too, so convenient and HEB has an awesome one that's pretty close to homemade).  No forks involved, dig in! 
 

You could also add sour cream, salsa, a squeeze of lime, chicken, beef, olives, sliced avocados or even more cheese!  Who doesn't love more cheese!  Yum!

Free Printable: Custom Postcards

It's been cloudy and very, very rainy here in Houston this week.  We don't have many weeks filled with heavy rain, so this weather is wonderful... and it's an excuse to stay indoors and get creative!  The kids and I invited friends over to play and paint.  I printed postcards and let the kids brush, swirl and flick paint all over the front of their postcards.  Once the paint dried, we flipped the postcard over and wrote a short sentence, filled in the address and added a stamp.  Tomorrow we'll drop it in the mail to send to far-away-family.  It's a bonus for the grandparents.... a letter and a painting in one, a custom painted postcard!

 We started with the blank postcard....

... then got out acrylic paint (I buy the Folk Art paint in the 2oz bottles, they're available at just about every craft store.  I like the thickness)....

... and got to work.

In the end, we had custom art on a postcard...

.... and ready to be addressed.
 

The kids had fun, so I think we'll be doing these again real soon... maybe next time we'll use watercolors paints!

Here's a free printable postcard for your kids (or you) to paint, draw, color or even scribble to send to those you love.  These postcards are available for your personal use for FREE.... download, print or just pass along the link: postcards

Print on 8.5x11" heavy-duty painting paper (I prefer acrylic paper for mine, but my printer will only take water color paper).  Once printed, cut down the middle, both horizontal and vertical.  There are four postcards per sheet.

Have fun!