Pretty Pumpkins and Dream Dinners

I have always enjoyed trying new recipes, and while I haven't always enjoyed the clean-up part of the process, I love being able to provide healthy, home-cooked meals for my family.

But lately.....

Lately my motivater to cook has been de-funct. I stopped cooking almost completely for the first three months of my pregnancy, as the very *thought* of stepping into a kitchen full of smells left me running for the toilet. And while I'm back on track with feeling good, my desire to plan, shop, put togther, cook, and then clean-up meals just hasn't been thre.

So last month, while talking with my best friend Christy, she introduced me to Dream Dinners. "Dream what?" I asked....The concept is familar to most of you - there's a host of places out there now that have different names, but a similar layout(My Girlfriend's Kitchen, Entrees Made Easy, Let's Do Dinner, Etc.)

You go online, pick out the dinners you want from their menu, and then show-up on the night you pick to put your dinner together. It was fast, it was fun, and the dinners have been DELICIOUS! They provide you with sides for several of the meals, and the rest is as easy as throwing in some bread and salad of your own.

The night I went to Dream Dinners to assemble everything, I left my hubby at home with the girlies for the second time that week. I was feeling a little guilty about going so much, so I left out a craft project for him to do with the girls, in order to help pass the time in a fun way together.

He was a little skeptical about it at first, as he has never fully attempted a craft project so completely on his own. But, after he saw that I had fully laid out everything (except the art smocks....whoops! That's OK...he improvised) he agreed to give it a shot.

The results were these very cute wooden pumpkins, painted and crafted all by my girlies and sweet hubby! I think they were all very proud of themselves... Good job everyone!!