I Am Super Mom!

Peanut Cluster Candy ~ A recipe that I have never posted!

2011-12-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

Peanut Cluster Candy
INGREDIENTS
2/3 pound vanilla flavored confectioners' coating
1 (11 ounce) package white chocolate chips
1 (12 ounce) can peanuts
1/2 (6 ounce) package almond toffee bits (e.g. Heath Bits O' Brickle)
DIRECTIONS
Line baking sheets or counter tops with waxed paper.
In a double boiler heat confectioners' coating until melted, stirring constantly until smooth.
Pour in white chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Stir in peanuts and almond toffee bits.
Remove from heat and drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cool for an hour, or until hardened.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T11:37:00.000-04:00

I am sorry blog readers, but, I am not feeling this blogging thing anymore. :( This year for Halloween, we had a PHantom and a Rock Star. O's costume was so fitting for her. She was adorable! Noah chose something other than a Star Wars Storm Trooper! Thank goodness! ;)

This little Phantom had his tongue stuck out in all of the pictures with his sister. LIttle Rat Turd! :)

Carly the Build-A-Bear Bunny decked out in her Pumpkin. She trekked the entire trick-or-treating trip in O's hand.

Our Summer....

2011-09-04T11:43:00.000-04:00

So, our summer didn't officially start until July 5th, weather wise, and well, now it is over. Fall has arrived. I am not complaining, I enjoy the cooler air, but don't enjoy what is to come. Ugh!

O made ice cream in a bag and totally loved it.

We made our first ever pizza crust, from scratch and it was awesome. :O)

Our fur baby getting a bath, she hates getting a bath! I got one too!

!Miss O at swim lessons!

Noah happily splashing away at swim lessons, I tell you, it was so hard to let him play in the water, even after he has had 2 sessions of swim lessons, but, there comes a point when you have to let them have a little bit of room.

We were at National Night out and the kids made the paper, so fun and cool, we have never made the paper before!

My bestie and I before the Kid Rock concert! Woo Hoo!

With the family at one of the best Zoo's in the United States!

Ahhh, the one and only "American Bad Ass", The super HOT Kid Rock. Got to go see him in Omaha! Woot Woot!For being 40, this guy can rock out!

I got TONS of makeovers this summer. I just love O's mouth here. She is a hoot!

Another instance where I had to let go, the boy going down the water slides at the water park. He LOVED it! :)

a Twinkle Cone with eyeballs, ears, nose, and a mouth. Still my favorite ice cream treat, it is O's too, she is my child for sure!

Bailey girl all dressed up!

Once a year, I get a "real" burger, this is from the county fair and, I cove this experience every summer. The best burger in this neck of the woods for 1 week out of the entire year. This is real beef! Heck ya!

O and a horse. She has this thing for horses!

Kids favorite ride at the fair!

We started to play Monopoly as a family. Whoa, what an experience, so many ?'s from little people while playing for the first time. Now, Noah's goal is to buy as many houses as he can and then go for the hotels, but, he ends up broke, nearly every time.

Our 4th of July

2011-07-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

I thought this would be fun for the kids to have a silly string fight, well, turns out, it was a total disaster. Noah kept getting Olivia in the mouth, the eyes, etc....even after we said, "do not get each other in the face." Olivia finally took a big mouth full of string and we had to end the silly string fight.

a 25 cent bag of poppers provided a few minutes of fun.

Olivia ended up using the rest of her silly string to decorate the girl on the front steps.

This girl was having so much fun running through the smoke from the smoke bombs. Boy did she smell funny after she was done.

My cupcakes. We did tie dyed cupcakes and OMG, they were so much work. Very cool, but lots of work and messy!

So, I think this is maybe the 2nd time in this kids life that he has ever fallen asleep by himself because he was so worn out. He was so funny, he had his head up on his hand and his head kept bobbing up and down. So funny! Unfortunately for me, my kids are energizer bunnies. They go and go and go!

I just love Hipstamatic, these prints are so stinking cool! :)

Noah's tanks, he is so obsessed with army stuff.

This is a friends dog "Cookie". Noah finally was able to catch her and sit with her on the chair. Poor Puppy! :)

Noah's fish he caught! :) Noah scared it so bad that the fish "pooped" himself.

We were invited to a friends lake house to a picnic and for fireworks. They have a dock and on that dock is this ginormous pirate. O named him "One eyed Pete" I just love this picture of the pirate. Should I tell you where they got the pirate? Well, a local "naughty bar" got shut down and it had a name of Pirates Cove. Well, this is the Pirate that used to be out front of the naughty place. I think it looks much better out on the dock! ;)

O trying to get a fish. She didn't have much luck and was pretty upset by it.

We went out and rode surrey's on the 4th. O was so ticked that she had to sit upfront in the basket. It was too HOT! I snapped a pic of her. lol! While searching the internet on how to correctly spell "surrey", I came acrossed a blog for Suri Cruise Fashion, true story, check it out here. O would love those glittery butterfly flip flops, surely they should be on clearance by now. :)

We finally realized that O could sit between us and Noah could stand up, much happier little girl. We turned on some Black Eyed Peas and some Kid Rock and pedaled around the park. Let me tell you, those bad boys work out the legs and make you sweat. If ever you have the chance to ride a surrey as a family.....DO IT! They are so much fun!

See this Boy, he is 7, he loves these here Bumper boats. For the first time, he got to ride one by himself. He was a total champ. See this girl right here, the one who is narrating, uh, she wouldn't be caught dead on one, even at the age of 34. You see, I got caught on one when I was probably 6 or 7 and I cried and cried and cried, all while my mom and dad laughed at me. Traumatized from that experience, yes, I was and still am!

Our 4th of July weekend was filled with lots of fun. Have I ever told you that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Yep, sure is!

We SAW IT......

2011-06-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

The Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile! The wiener mobile is celebrating it's 75th Bday. Can you believe that?

Getting Closer....

2011-06-27T14:43:00.000-04:00

I can't wait to see this guy LIVE!
photo from here: Kid Rock Website!

What I am reading...

2011-06-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

It is not very often that I get to read a book. I found this one at the library and I highly recommend it. It is SOOOOO GOOOOD! I am half way through it. Very hard to put down.

Rocco our FROG...

2011-06-25T11:14:00.000-04:00

This is the 2nd time in our living here that we have found a frog. We were out at the park and Noah did not give up until he caught his frog. He brought it home and him and Miss O set up a "Habitat" for him. He had is very own pool, bedroom, mudroom and a twirly wirly! I just love how these pictures turned out. My boy is 110% boy and I wouldn't want him any other way. :) Miss O is maybe .5% boy, she likes all these slippery, bumpy, slinky things too. :)

OUr Summer so far....

2011-06-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

This is a very rare thing around here nowadays. They are laying together nicely on the "round-a-bout". Makes me sad that they bicker and annoy each other so much these days. :(

Puppy is still going strong. :)

OUr beautiful Bailey Girl.

Playing out in the garden hose one evening. O kept saying, "This is an epic night."

Boy and his Puppy!

Getting ready to go on the Bouncy House at the festival.

Miss O having a Snow Cone!

Marshmallow Guns....tons of fun!

We are starting this girl young. I love seeing what they capture in their lens.

All these photos taken with the Hipstamatic iPhone app. I am addicted to it. Lots of fun!

Makes my heart melt...

2011-06-20T12:47:00.000-04:00

This was taken by Noah yesterday morning. This picture says so much!

Recipe Friday ~ Giant S'More Cookies

2011-06-17T06:00:00.003-04:00

Giant S’More Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks softened butter

1 Cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

4 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips

3 regular size Hershey’s Chocolate Bars

3 Full Graham Crackers

5-6 Large Marshmallows cut into fourths

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter and sugars into a stand or electric mixer; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. Place flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl; mix then slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Mix until just combined. Scoop a heaping 1/4 Cup of cookie dough into muffin top pan cups. Press down then gently press chocolate bar squares, graham cracker pieces and marshmallow slices on top of cookie dough. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges are just turning brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve with milk and enjoy :)

**Note, this recipe may also be done without the muffin top pan. Just flatten out your cookie dough slightly onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and press your s’mores toppings over the dough** You can purchase those fun muffin top pans at TJ Maxx Home Goods if you are lucky, Sur La Table, Bed Bath and Beyond and of course you can google it as well!!

Makes 18 LARGE cookies from the muffin top pan

Recital # 2

2011-06-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

G'ma and G'pa drove the 6 hour trip to come and see Miss O in her second dance recital. She was amazing. I got so many compliments on her personality and her confidence. It really made me feel good. She was precious!

Modern Day Baking with G'Ma

2011-06-12T19:02:00.000-04:00

When Mom and Dad were her for O's recital, we made some cookies for the church rummage sale. We used her iPad for getting the recipe off her blog. So cool, we didn't have to print it. Gotta love that.

Giant S'More Cookies ~ Amazing Cookie ~ I guess they were very popular at the rummage sale.

Traditional Whoopie Pie

summer = dirty feet

2011-06-01T18:54:00.000-04:00

A trip down memory lane....

2011-05-29T17:40:00.000-04:00

I really wish I had a ghost writer to help me put my words down in a better way, but, I don't, so, here is me trying to communicate my feelings about an old friend.

I was cleaning out our crawl space for an upcoming garage sale and found some "memorabilia" from my youth/teenage years.

I lost a dear friend to a car accident when we were 15. He was my very first boyfriend.
I lived in my hometown then moved to a neighboring town and back when I was in 2nd grade came back my 3rd grade year. Does that make sense?

Him and another boy, Mike had a bet that whoever the new girl was, they would go out with them. Well, Kim came before me, so, she ended up being Mike's girlfriend. Then, I came and Chris and I became boyfriend/girlfriend.

Chris and I were boyfriend and girlfriend through part of 7th grade.

He was the very first boy I kissed. I think It was during the 6th grade. We were at a Basketball game at the HS and we went out by the evergreen tree and kissed each other. It was just a quick peck on the lips, we thought it was great! :)

He gave me so many memories. He invited me to several Hockey games. His sister was a Lancer Girl, she danced for the nearby team. I will never forget the time that I went to a game with him and got the chance to go out on the ice and hit the puck for a chance at a prize. I had to hit it in the net, I missed it by several inches/feet. :) I was so shy and embarrassed, I did not want to do it, but, I did with lots of convincing from him and his mom.We would go out after the games with his sister and one of the players and have pizza. I had my first Hawaiian Pizza with them. I have loved it ever since.

I looked up to his sister so much. She was beautiful, confident, popular, etc... She attended a modeling school and I was invited to the graduation. It was so much fun. My mom made me wear a dress to the event, I did not want to wear one, cuz, I am not a dress girl. Thank God she did, I was so happy that I looked nice like all the other attendees. I had the best time.

I remember going to a couple bday parties and dancing with him. I remember his mom picking us up in her big green car and taking us to a classmates bday out in the country on a farm where I got to see for the first time inside a grain bin.

I rode my very first go-cart at his bday at Fun Plex. I was scared to death to get on it. I remember having a friend that was short and couldn't ride by herself, so, she got to ride with his mom (no fair). With a little bit of convincing, I finally got on the go-cart.....I didn't want to get off!

I remember spending countless hours on the phone talking to him. We would talk about our future, the house that we would live in, where we would go to college, what kind of cars we loved, what we would be when we "grew up". Scorpions, his uncle in AZ. We talked alot about his Uncle in AZ. All the weird stuff that happens while living out in the country. I am so thankful that my mom & dad let me talk to him like they did. They never cowed out that I had a boyfriend or that I was on the phone for hours at a time.

He gave me my very first gold chain, an i'd bracelet, a gumball machine. His family had a big one in their living room, I thought it was so neat. So, one year for my bday, he gave me a smaller gumball machine. I still have it. :)

He had a beautiful smile, with the most adorable dimples. Darker complexion, he was part Italian.

I'll never forget the time I was sitting in study hall and he came over an put someones wax from their braces in my hair. BRAT! He was so naughty at times. Could be a real stinker.

I will never forget all the older guys telling me how they were going to give him a hard time once he was in football with them in HS. I hated that they wanted to make him miserable. It hurt my feelings. Turns out, he was one of the best football players that our HS had ever seen. He had some serious speed. The boys all liked him once they saw how good he was for the team. They all became friends. They nicknamed him "Jar". His last name was that of a jar, Mason. Such a fitting nickname. LOL!

I remember braking up with him. He was treating me badly, so, I broke it off. I don't remember all the details, but, I broke up with him cuz he was being a jerk. My mom remembers his mom and sister calling and wondering why I broke up with him. I don't even remember what he did to me that made me so mad at him. I remember being mad at him, but, not what he did! Probably a good thing.

I remember countless nights sitting on the front steps of my poorch and all the "guys" coming over to hang out and visit. We would be out their until the wee hours of the mornings sometimes. The other "girls" at school, really did not like me. I have NO idea why. I was pretty good friends with most of the "guys." Maybe, they were jealous. LOL! A lot of people didn't like me at my school. I don't know what I did to the majority of them, but, they hated me. Maybe it was cuz I was, "oh, I won't say it." lol! It isn't nice. Chris came a few times to visit, not as many as the other one did.

I will never forget them all hunting for the cats and immensely decreasing the cat population in our city.

I remember going to a homecoming dance with him, probably my freshman year in HS. We had a "real kiss" that night. ;)

Secretly, I really wanted to date him again, but, he started to date other girls in our class. I remember the night that I was going to tell him that I wanted to go out with him. I just couldn't do it. I was at a party and he came and I saw him across the room. I think we talked for a little bit. I remember getting ready to leave and I stopped and touched the back of a "friend." that was with Chris that night. I had to stop and look at him.

I will never forget my really close friend calling me the next morning and telling me that Chris & "so and so" are dead. It was the most awful news ever! I was 15. I lost a friend. A really good friend. No 15 year old should have to lose their friend so young. I have decided to day that I am really pissed at God for doing that. It sucks! SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS! I hate that I was so young and had to experience the loss of a loved one. It truly made a mark on me. It has made me very fearful of life and losing loved one's and, just how precious our days are.

I have often wondered, today, if he were still alive, would we still be friends. I have become estranged from the majority of my high school class. I have hard feelings toward many of them. That is a story that I will save for another day. Would him and I still be friends, or, would we have gone our separate ways and never talked again after graduation! I don't know. I will never know!

Garden and butts....

2011-05-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

We are at it again. This time, the only vining plant will be the cucumbers. :)

The kids were very excited to help get the garden ready, much more so than Mom! :/

I was the designated "itcher" since their hands were dirty.

Olivia came over to me and said, "Itch my head", so, I itch her head. Then, I say, while itching her head, "Olivia my butt itches." She says, "Go to the right", I say, "But Olivia, my butt itches" while I am still itching her head. Then, she is all done getting her head itched and she says in her little voice, "Ok, now you can itch your butt!"

Crack me up silly girl!

She says it beautifully....

2011-05-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

There Simply are No Words....Stephanie Howell

A historic event took place last night...
finally, he is D E A D!
Victory for US!

Easter 2011

2011-05-01T10:28:00.000-04:00

The kids and I got to spend Easter at home with my family. The first ever

Dying eggs with Unky!

First ever egg hunt outside that didn't include snow!

I love this picture, the Jolly Green Giant with two little Munchkins. :)
.

Finding Photo Freedom.....:O)

2011-04-28T17:25:00.000-04:00

Finally, I am taking my favorite girl's class.

34....

2011-04-10T20:45:00.000-04:00

Today, I turned 34! Can someone please tell me where the time went???? I don't like this, it is going by too darned fast!

Old School

2011-03-31T14:24:00.000-04:00

This little guy has been floating around the house, he usually hangs out in our bedroom, but, I found him on the living room floor today. :( I have had him since I was a little girl. A 33, almost 34 yr old "woman" probably should not have a stuffed animal, but, i have 2. E.T. and the Lorax. oh well!

Nemo

2011-03-22T12:27:00.000-04:00

We got to eat at Tucci Bunuccii's at MOA and Noah got the usual, Chicken Fingers and Fries. He got a little critter in with his meal. He thought it was the coolest thing. We had to bring it home with us and it is still in the fridge.

A Suprise

2011-03-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

We went out of town for a couple days this past week. It is weird, but, living here, we feel all cooped up for the 6 months of winter that we have and "have" to get out of town to civilization come March and April.

We told the kids that we had a surprise for them. We spent a couple days in Minneapolis going to Mall of America, it just so happened that Sam from iCarly was performing there. We are huge iCarly fans in this house. We don't miss an episode at all.

I enjoyed watching Miss O as she watched Jennette McCurdy perform. She did not take her eyes off of her. So sweet.

randomness

2011-03-05T12:42:00.000-05:00

Noah was at a party and we took Miss O for some time with Mom and Dad, one of her favorite stores of all time. She scored some new earrings that day.:)

Our ultra conservative boy came out from his bath one day with a Mohawk. Pretty silly boy he is.

Courage ......

2011-03-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

I LOVE this song, it has been getting me through a rough couple of days, this is me to the T, this is such a beautiful song....

Take all my vicious words
And turn them into something good
Take all my preconceptions
And let the truth be understood

Take all my prized possessions
Leave only what I need
Take all my pieces of doubt
And let me be what's underneath

Courage is when you're afraid,
But you keep on moving anyway
Courage is when you're in pain,
But you keep on living anyway

We all have excuses why
Living in fear something in us dies
Like a bird with broken wings

It's not how high he flies,
But the song he sings
Courage is when you're afraid,
But you keep on moving anyway

Courage is when you're in pain,
But you keep on living anyway
It's not how many times you've been
knocked down
It's how many times you get back up

Courage is when you've lost your way,
But you find your strength anyway
Courage is when you're afraid
Courage is when it all seems grey

Courage is when you make a change,
And you keep on living anyway
You keep on moving anyway
You keep on giving anyway
You keep on loving anyway

of course with Courage you need FAITH too, which, OMG, my faith has been tested severely these past few months. I think faith was so much easier for me to have when I was younger than now, I don't know why, in hindsight, I see how FAITH worked for me and the insane amounts of time when I was protected. Now, it is a different story!

As I reflect and see all the times that I was protected, it baffles me, all that i have gone through, I have been protected, so, why as an adult can I not be protected, I have a hard time believing that. But, I am going to start to BELIEVE that HE will protect me, HE will see me through and HE still has a plan for me.

I often wonder how, people don't have faith, if they only knew what I know, seen what i have seen, been through what I have been through. Maybe, just maybe they would believe it.

so, there ya have it :)
My brother could write it so much better than I, he is a beautiful writer. Me, not so much! lol! I absolutely disliked English. ICK!

have I mentioned that this winter sucks big time, I am so over it!

Orianthi - Courage ft. Lacey

2011-03-02T12:54:00.000-05:00

Cracks me Up

2011-02-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

Noah was wrestling his sister and I just thought it was so funny!

SNOW..... O M G

2011-02-23T10:55:00.001-05:00

Looks like we are "plugged in" again. I have to say, it has been nice not having a computer, can't believe I would ever say that. :)

Ok people, here is the S N O W that we have gotten this week. Papa Bob just told me that we have gotten 57" this year. Is that crazy or what? I am so sick of it. Boo Hoo!

For the "furbaby", we had to dig a little spot for her.

Our neighbor got all his snow back, he snow blowed all of his snow from that last dump over into out back yard. Can you believe it. I was floored, you could see his grass. I tell ya, some people. I did confront him in a nice manor and asked him to please not do that again. I am keeping my "eagle" eye on him.

This is the gate to our back yard. Is that crazy or what?

on us

2011-02-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

well, I have tried now for over an hour to upload a pic, no such luck chuck!

we have been sick for the past month I would say. Started out with Bryan getting influenza! Then, Miss O gets it, I get a case of the crud, then Miss O gets secondary infections, Noah gets them and we all get strep. Wow, what an expensive month this has been.

our computer is acting funky, not working all that well. i have been trying to check email and facebook on the old iTouch, but, that just stinks, too small and you can't get to anything on there. I wonder if it is an Apple thing. I don't know.

so, here is to hoping that we are on the mend soon!

Clever Gift Idea

2011-02-02T09:16:00.000-05:00

I found this idea at Life as Mom, Is this clever or what? Ha, I love this idea. What little kid wouldn't love to get this for their bday. I know mine would, especially my little man, he is a money boy!

Sock Monkey

2011-02-01T11:58:00.000-05:00

You all know how much I love Sock Monkey's. Mom sent me a cookie with Miss O's, just for me. Isn't he cute. I just realized in this picture that I look "old" ugh! Me NO likey!

Miss O Turns 6

2011-01-31T12:36:00.001-05:00

G'ma found these adorable cookies on Etsy and ordered them for the little ladies Bday. The kids loved them. They came to us all the way from New York state and didn't even break, I couldn't believe it. They were delicious! Thanks G'ma!

This is Miss O having a fit after her brother told on her for mixing the white and yellow moon dough together. How dare he, he made this the worst Bday ever. Little stinker.

Noah being a boy, I asked to get a pic of his 3 lost teeth. He spits a big gross goo ball through his teeth. *Boys* Notice his stuff all around his mouth, he is always saving his food for later. G R O S S! Boys, I tell ya!

This is why, I love this hobby so much

2011-01-30T16:01:00.000-05:00

i sent her an email for some advice and she responded:

and Karen I do remember you- what should you say? I find that women need to know that scrapbooking is about telling their stories and the products, techniques, sketches, ideas, and more are their to support them, not overwhelm. Suggest they think of 5-10 stories they went to tell such as where their kids' names came from, or why they have certain holiday traditions. As opposed to starting with the photos they have. Start with the stories and then illustrate them with photos and product.
Maybe you could share your favorite pages and share why you love them- the photos, stories, memories, etc.
Either way encourage them to avoid the idea that they must scrapbook all their photos- start somewhere and be realistic.

I love this lady! Wendy Smedley, you are such a sweetie!

Project Life....

2011-01-29T08:43:00.000-05:00

I got my PL kit with my swagbucks! :) Mr Brown should be coming in a few days to deliver.
The pic of the donuts are from Miss O's Bday. She took them to school for her treats. I thought they looked so pretty.
Today we are having her bday at the Skating Rink! Should be lots of fun!

Happy 6th Bday Sweet Cheeks!

2011-01-27T10:13:00.000-05:00

Day of Discovery....

2011-01-26T14:49:00.001-05:00

you remember my post the day before about Miss O and the scissor incident. Here she is in all her glory with her permanent part!
This was before she noticed me taking her pic. The other's are after. hee hee!

Hair cuts....

2011-01-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

"Miss O, Did you cut your hair?"

Thumb in mouth, blanket by her nose, looking straight ahead.

Not answering me.

"Miss O, did you cut your hair?"

Still won't answer.

Shut TV off, "Miss O, did you cut your hair?"

No answer.

"Miss O, why did you cut your hair?"

Miss O, "I don't like where it was at."

She cut her hair along her part, clear to the scalp.

I could not get a picture, she didn't want grandma to laugh at her. *sigh*

And, I was just thinking how lucky we were that neither of them cut their own hair. Ha, well, that didn't last long. Amazing what that little voice can predict.

Recipe Friday ~ Chicken Puffs

2011-01-22T06:00:00.004-05:00

You all know how I have been blogging about the freezer cooking thing. Well, I have been doing a few things here and there. Nothing major. This is one of my favorites. I often eat them for lunch. They are very yummy.

Chicken Puffs

Ingredients:

* 2 pkg refrigerator crescent rolls
* 2 C crushed Ritz crackers
* 2 ½ C cubed cooked chicken
* 1/4 C onion, diced
* ½ C celery
* 4 oz cream cheese
* 4 oz sour cream
* dash of garlic powder
* dash of salt and pepper

Method:

Open the crescent roll packages. Unroll dough and press 2 triangles of crescent rolls into a square. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Place crushed Ritz crackers in a shallow dish.

Stir together remaining ingredients in a large bowl and scoop by heaping teaspoonful onto the crescent roll dough.

Fold and pinch edges together. Roll each chicken puff in the Ritz crackers. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Set the cookie sheet in the freezer for 1 hour and then drop all the chicken puffs into a zip top bag. Take out as needed.

To Bake: Place frozen chicken puffs on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

This comes from FreezerDinner.com

Train - Marry Me

2011-01-18T10:33:00.000-05:00

A new one! I think I have told you before how much I *love* this group!

In Season....

2011-01-13T15:04:00.000-05:00

This girl loves Kiwi!

Platters & Water Balloons

2011-01-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

The kids and I were in bed the other night. Noah and Olivia were asking me "How did you and Dad make me/us?" I am not quite sure how to answer that as of yet. The experts say that if they ask, we should tell them, but how do you do that for their 5 & 7 year old little minds to understand?
So, Noah has his own little ideas that "Jesus cut mommies belly open and put him and Olivia in there." Yeah, well if it works for them, it works for me at this point.

We got to talking about what babies do when they are in mommies belly.

I told them. WEll, "you sat on my bladder, and made me pea all the time, then, you make it hard to poop and Noah, you popped mommies water balloon. " People, it is all true. :)

They giggled so hard. It was funny.

Miss O, I told her that she did the same, except, she was stubborn and did not pop mommies water balloon, she not want to come out on time or early for that matter. I mean, geesh, girl Grandma & Grandpa and Unky are here, waiting for her arrival and well, she just isn't ready to come until the day before they are scheduled to leave to go home. Stubborn little girl! :)

So, Noah repeats to me. "So, I sat on your "platter" and made you pea all the time, you couldn't poop because of me, and I popped your water balloon."

Man, kids are so cute and, say the darnedest things.

Sllllleeeeeeddddiiinnnnnggggggg......

2011-01-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

Have I ever told you that the lovely place that we call "home" is flat as a pancake and has ZERO hills.

Not a nothing around us to block the wind and snow.

I found it rather comical while driving one day to see all the little kids sledding down into a dried up old "slew".

What is a slew?
Well, it is little bodies of water that you will find all over the state of where I reside.

I think that is why we have so many mosquito's, we have so many "slews."

There is also a man made sledding "hill" here that is a bit bigger than the dried up slew. Basically, the city put a bunch of snow in a corn field and let the kids sled on it. Nothing major, like Casey's hill in my hometown.

But, a place where we made a memory!
Finally, my kids got the chance to go sledding.

Now, one last thing to do before we move is to go ice skating at the out door rink before we leave. We just have to wait for it to get to a certain temperature outside.

White Snow

2011-01-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

picnik even makes the snow WHITE! HOT DOG, all with out trying to figure out the camera settings. just click on "auto fix". :)

Day Late and a Dollar Short

2011-01-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

I was playing around with Picnik.com today. This is a free site with the ability to get a paid membership. It is an online photo editing site. I was just playing around. I love my furbaby!

Evernote

2011-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have heard lots about this new tool. I took the plunge, now, just to figure it out. I am not very techy! :)
Evernote

Headbanz....

2011-01-08T11:16:00.000-05:00

We have seen this game on iCarly. So, G'MA got it for the Miss O for Christmas, It is a fun and easy game. We had a great time and look, oh so ridiculous with our headbanz on.

Christmas.....

2011-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have a little bit of a confession to make, this year, Christmas just wasn't a "happy" time for me. I am really glad it is over. I tried my best to do "special" little things for the kids. My hope is that they will remember the little bits of "magic" that "Santa" brought this year.

My girl. She loves to wear Christmas dresses. This year, hers was beautiful, I wasn't sure at first, but, of course, it fit her personality wonderfully. I bought her the most cute shoes to go with this dress. 1 size too B I G. I was so mad. Well, guess they are going in the closet until next year.

This was our first year doing a gingerbread house. Miss O has been wanting to do one forever. I finally broke down and bought a "kit" at Target. It was an interesting project. Thank God for Bryan, he did much of the frosting. Olivia, did much of the candy nibbling.

I love this picture of Noah, he looks so mischievous. His lost tooth and his messy hair. The shirt he is wearing, he pretty much wears this style of shirt every year. My boy is not a sweater/suit wearing kind of boy. He is just the "cool" sort of boy!

I was not able to get very many pics of the 2 of them together. Noah did not want to partake in the picture taking festivities.

I set this pic up, on some pillows on the couch, the boy would not participate, yet again. No picture with momma. I love this of me and my girl! So sweet she is and so very sassy!

Miss O got this one of me. This is the first time in probably 4 years that I have actually had my hair done for Christmas. One thing that I sacrifice for being a SAHM is getting my hair done and boy is it tough. I have a head full of hair, so when I get it cut and colored, it can get quite costly. Plus, we are hit this time of year with bdays and Christmas. MY #1 is making sure my kids have a special bday and Christmas. So, I usually wait until after January to get the hair done. It felt nice to have my hair done, I didn't feel like a frumpy mom this year. ;)

Miss O captured our furbaby!

We have the most beautiful/sweet furbaby ever. I love this picture. She was our very first "baby". She got me through our first couple years of marriage, before the kids came along.

She got a gift this year. Here she is "sniffing it out".

Christmas PJ"S.

Mom got the kids "head lamps" for Christmas. Here they both are under the tree. I was cracking up once I figured out what they were doing. Using their lights to find their gifts under the tree.

This was the 1 and only thing this boy really wanted this year.

And, this is what she wanted so bad this year. Pink Lego's. Has she played with them since getting them. UM, NO. ugh!

Bailey girl feasting on her rawhide bone that Bryan picked out for her. I told him that she will get sick. Her stomach can not handle these types of bones. Sure enough for 3 days, I was cleaning up her nastiness. At least she enjoyed it while she could.

CHANGE.....

2011-01-05T12:08:00.002-05:00

This year is going to bring many changes for our family. Hopefully, they will be great changes; new beginnings for our family! :)
I really want to document where we are now and where we are going, but, can, I commit to a project such as the Project Life.
I am trying to get my swagbucks up so that it can help with the purchase of this kit. That way, I won't feel so bad if I fall behind.

The Jolly Man

2010-12-23T13:47:00.000-05:00

Our visit this year to the Jolly Man! I don't know how much longer Noah is going to be "Believing". He told us that "that wasn't the "real" Santa Claus, the real Santa is "up there." Bummer!

A new blog, I would love to share.....

2010-12-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

Seriously ladies, I love it when I find an amazing blog that I get lost in....I found a new one.....The Fickle Pickle.....

Check out this adorable Gingerbread Packaging that she found at the Target Dollar Spot, I am hoping I can score some for the kids cupcake socks for the teachers.....And those felt flower pens, *Gasp* so totally cute! I could see that on a head band.Check it out here.

I have been wanting a snow man kit for the kids ever since I saw one at a retailer "years" ago, well, i stumbled across this one..... Snow Man Kit. Totally cute!

Love Affair....Have I ever told you.....

2010-12-11T13:24:00.000-05:00

i have secret love affair with sock monkey's and the Grinch. I don't own a sock monkey, but, I sure think they are cute!

You can find this cutie here, he sells for $12.95! I love him.
Girl Sock Monkey Cozy from Etsy

Snowman

2010-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Miss O came home after school the other day and made herself her own snowman. He is pretty cute!

Cupcake Socks for the Teachers

2010-12-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here they are. With much frustration, I tried my hand at the cupcake socks. I have found that the nice cupcake socks versus the $2 Michael's socks are much more difficult to work with. Not that they were "that" difficult, they just didn't look as nice as the cheepo's. I didn't want to give the kids teachers socks that were already falling apart. I looked at the one's at Walmart and they were starting to fray at the tops. So, this is my first try at them.

Tradition.....

2010-12-07T11:20:00.001-05:00

at our house, one of the traditions we have is that the little one's get to put a little christmas tree up in their rooms. they enjoy decorating them each year. Miss O has a purple and the boy has a blue. We would love to find a little orange one, but, I have NEVER seen one. Bummer!

Lego's: A favorite around here for the boy. He wanted me to take pics of his creations in his room. Thought I would share with the blog world.

Gifts....ETA* Sources

2010-12-06T13:39:00.001-05:00

while Mom was here for Thanksgiving, we put together these candy bar tins for my dad's secretaries. I guess they were delighted when they received them. I have more to make for the kids teachers for Christmas.

*eta Sources** Darn, thought I would get away with not having to list my sources. Ha Ha, I should have known better......
Here ya go...
Paper: Christmas Prints from Papertrey Ink plus, the coordinating red and green that go with it. It is listed there with the paper pack.
Stamp set: Holiday Treats we took some plain red and green card stock and stamped the red and green strips of paper with the snowflake one on this set and it turned out really cute, sort of vintage looking. We used the patterned paper to wrap the nuggets in and then felt that it needed some solid coloring to settle the eye.
Tins: Large Hinged Tin you get 3 in a pkg for $4. Now, there is a source that you can buy a larger quantity Rectangular Tin they are $1.05 per tin, plus shipping. I'll let you decide what is most cost effective for you.
Twine: Martha Stewart from Michael's
We got the idea from Kerry's Paper Crafts _ Nugget Tins Kerry has some super cute stuff, scroll through the posts and see which tins you like best!

Ina Garten's Sunday Oatmeal

2010-11-25T09:02:00.001-05:00

We have made this recipe when my the family is visiting. I have this in a cookbook and, we can not find it. Thankfully, it is on the internet. This is some good stuff! :)

note to me this is in your handwritten cookbook* :)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 bananas, sliced
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons maple syrup or 2 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste

Directions

Heat milk plus 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan until it starts to simmer. Add oatmeal and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.
Remove from heat. Add your stir-ins: banana slices, cherries, raisins, or whatever you are using. Cover, and let stand 2 minutes. Serve hot with a drizzle of maple syrup or sprinkle of brown sugar to taste, cinnamon if desired. You may also add extra milk to taste.
Suggestions for stir-ins: chopped walnuts, slivered almonds, minced dried apricot, chopped apple (dried or fresh) etc.

Kid Rock - Born Free

2010-11-22T12:55:00.000-05:00

Recipe Friday ~ Baked Chicken Cheese Enchilada's~

2010-11-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Delicious and Fattening

Baked Chicken Cheese Enchilada's

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups prepared salsa
2 cups shredded cheese, cheddar or Monterey jack
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
4 scallions, thinly sliced
14 soft, round 6-8 inch tortillas

Preheat oven to 325 In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in 1/2 cup of the salsa. Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese.

In a second bowl, toss together the chicken, corn, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, and 1/2 of the scallions. Add the chicken mixture to the creamed mixture and stir to combine.

In a baking dish, spread 1/2 cup of the salsa over the bottom. Place about 1/3 cup of the filling on a tortilla, roll up and transfer to the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat process for remaining tortillas.

Pour remaining salsa over enchiladas, spreading to coat all of them. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Enchiladas may be made up to this point 12 hours in advance.

Transfer to preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining scallions and serve warm. Enchiladas may be reheated, covered with aluminum foil.

CDK Kitchen recipe found here!

~Toothless~

2010-11-16T14:04:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the movie How to Train a Dragon? Well if you have not, there is a night fury dragon that is the star of the show and his name is "Toothless".

A couple weeks ago I was brushing the boys teeth and noticed this abscess on my son's gum. This was on a tooth that he had hurt when he was just a young pup, wrestling with his daddy and came right down on hubby's knee. The dentist has looked at it previously, told us, it is ok, it will get dark and gray :( He has been to the dentist a few times since then. Well, 5 1/2 years after he injures his tooth, he gets an abscess. YUCK! And, has to have the tooth pulled! :( We weren't really expecting this.

To top it off, he is 7 and has lost Zero teeth, but, finally has one that is loose, which is exciting, ya know, the first loose tooth. Well, the little guy had to have his tooth pulled.

Then, a few days later, he bites into an Oreo cookie and the loose tooth falls out.

Miss O looks at me and says, "ya know mom, we should call him toothless." I laugh, "yeah, Miss O, we should."

Dropping Noah off at school, Miss O says, "Come on toothless, time to get out of the car. "

Noah looks at her and says, "Quit calling me toothless, it hurts my feelings."

I thought it was kind of cute!

Thanksgiving Cranberry Muffins

2010-11-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

These are a tradition at our house on Thanksgiving. My Grandfather absolutely loves them. :)

Thanksgiving Cranberry Muffins

2 cups Flour, All Purpose
1 cup Sugar
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Orange Zest
1-½ teaspoon Nutmeg, Ground
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, Ground
½ teaspoons Ginger, Ground
½ cups Shortening
¾ cups Orange Juice
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (pure Is Best)
2 whole Large Eggs, Beaten
1-½ cup Chopped Cranberries
1-½ cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)
_____
FOR THE SPREAD
1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce (8 Oz)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
¼ cups Butter Or Margarine

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray or grease a 12 cup and a 6 cup muffin tin.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.
Cut in shortening; then stir in juice, vanilla, eggs, cranberries and nuts. Pour batter into muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes or until brown. Cool.
3. Prepare the topping in a saucepan over low heat by whisking together the cranberry sauce, brown sugar and margarine. Cook until heated and smooth.
Remove from heat and serve as a spread for the muffins.

An Obsession.....

2010-11-14T06:00:00.005-05:00

I have this huge obsession, when I become interested in something, I research it and research it to death. :)

So, this obsession is Freezer Meals or Freezer cooking. I haven't taken it full on yet, but, I have done a few things here and there. I thought I would share a few things with you. My favorite books, websites, etc....

This was my first Freezer Cooking Cookbook. These ladies here do the whole 30 day meals at once. We liked the Parsley Parmesan Chicken and from their website, I found the French Toast Bake recipe that our family loves.

So then, the 30 Day gourmet ladies come out with a new cookbook

So far in this book, I tried the Chicken and Broccoli Lo Mein and the Cheese Filled Shells. Both were very good.

Then, there is this little number, this is on my Amazon Wish List.
I found her through Google. She is a cutie. Mama to 4 and enjoys cooking. How she has the energy to cook after dealing with 4 little one's, well, I suppose that is why she does freezer meals. On the Menu for this week from this book are the Chicken Puffs and, I want to try Freezer Jam/Jelly so bad, but, Raspberries are not in "season" right now. Hopefully, I will be able to try that next summer. What is it about Mason/Ball Jars that are so cute??? :)

Here are some sites, that I have bookmarked for future reference:
Southern Plate Freezer Cooking Part 1
Southern Plate Freezer Cooking Part 2

Freezer Dinner.com author of Fabulous Freezer Meals

Freezer Jam and Chicken Puff Video's in here

Once A Month Mom this site is a little confusing, takes some getting used too. She even has a podcast on iTunes. :)

30 Day Gourmet this site is a bit of a pain to navigate, but, once you get it figured out, they have some great information and recipes on it.

And, I found this fantastic recipe for Freezer Pizza Dough over at Annie's Eats that I am gonna try. I have a confession though, Yeast scares me, and, that is because of my mom. Perfect Pizza Dough

Cupcake Party

2010-11-13T09:15:00.001-05:00

cupcake party.....
I am part of a committee at our church. This committee is designed to feed woman spiritually and to build relationships with each other. I got this clever idea to invite the owner of a gourmet cupcake shop from a neighboring town to come and share her story with us. To share, how God has blessed her and her business.
little did I know how much work goes into planning such an event. Whoa baby! And, how much man power is needed for putting on an event such as this. I had a partner, but, well, she was not much help. Thank GOD my mother traveled 7 hours to help me. We worked for 2 1/2 days all day to get the stuff in order. My partner helped maybe 2.5 hours in the entire 3 days before the event. ugh! :/

These are tubes that we purchased and put sprinkles in and put them in the favor bag too. I just love these tubes. You can find them here at SKS Industries.

These are the gift bags and some cupcake liners that were part of the favors. I used the cricut for the bags! :)

Little Notebooks covered with cute cupcake paper.

this was our place setting....

Door Prizes!

The Little Miss O helping in the kitchen!

My fabulous MaMa with her fabulous grandbabies helping in the kitchen. :)

The cupcake kit that we all got to decorate 2 cupcakes. This included 2 cupcakes, frosting with a tip and some decorations to top the frosting.

Place settings with the kits on them.

This is Melissa, the owner, I can't even tell you how inspiring this lady is. Wow! If you put God first in your life, he just blesses and blesses and blesses! :)

Halloween ~ Better Late than Never

2010-11-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

We had a kitty witch and a storm trooper (again). The boy did not want his pic taken. :(

Flat Bread Taco's

2010-11-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

A new recipe that I found and tested. These are quick and yummy! The family loved them too! It is a Winner!

Flatbread Tacos

yourhomebasedmom.com

1 C sour cream
2 -3 tsps taco seasoning mix
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning (season to taste)
1 recipe of flatbread (see below)
Optional toppings: sliced ripe olives, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and shredded cheese
In a bowl, mix together the sour cream and taco seasoning to taste. chill until serving.(at least 30 minutes)
In a large frying pan, cook the hamburger over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add in the taco seasong and cook according to the directions on the back of the package.
To serve, spread each flatbread with 2 tablespoons sour cream mixture then top each with meat mixture. Add toppings if desired.
Flatbread
1 tube (16.3 ounces) Pillsbury Grand refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

With your hand or a rolling pin press out each biscuit into a 6-in. circle. You want a nice even thickness. In a nonstick skillet frying pan or griddle over medium heat, cook each biscuit for about 60 seconds per side or until golden brown. This is a "dry fry" Do not use any type of grease, oil, butter etc. You cook them in a completely dry pan.

Adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

Gobble Gobble Thanksgiving Menu and recipes

2010-11-10T14:16:00.001-05:00

My sweet friend Rachel is preparing her very first Thanksgiving Supper and was asking if I had any pointers and tips for her. I told her I would share my menu with her.

The biggest tip I have is to cook that turkey in an electric roaster. I know it is an investment at first, but, It pays off over time. The electric roaster allows you to have your oven to bake all of your sides. This one here is an 18 qt and can cook up to a 22lb bird. You can find them at WallyWorld, or even your local hardware store. I got mine at a hardware store at a bargain price.

Our Menu:

Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatos
Gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Cornbread Corn Casserole
Fluff (Watergate Salad)
Deviled Eggs

This years Turkey, we are going to try Brining with this recipe:

Turkey Brine

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey or 2 packages Turkey Brests Our Turkey this year is 22 lbs though.

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 teaspoons grated ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:
Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Stuffing
This is my mother-in-law's recipe
I do not stuff my bird, I do the stuffing in its own dish

3/4 c. Butter
2 lg. celery stalks with leavles chopped
9 c. soft bread crumbs
1/2 t. thyme
1 t. salt
1/2 t. sage or poultry seasoning
1/4 t. pepper
1 can chicken broth

Melt butter in skillet. Cook celery and onion in butter until tender. Remove from heat. Toss clery/onion mixture with remaining ingredients, poor chicken broth to soak. . Place in 2 1/2 qt. baking dish. Bake 350 degrees 15-20 min. Watch it as it bakes. My mother-in-law is really good at leaving steps and ingredients out. She didn't tell me how much broth or how long to bake, so, now, I watch it and take it out of the oven when it starts to turn golden. I don't completely soak the bread, but get the bread pretty wet, not too where it is all soupy. You should see the egg roll recipe. Gahhh, so confusing.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups Mashed Cooked Sweet Potatoes
½ cups White Sugar
½ cups Milk
2 whole Eggs Beaten
¼ cups Melted Butter, Plus 3 Tablespoons, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Packed Brown Sugar
⅓ cups All-purpose Flour
1 cup Chopped Pecans (i like to do 1/2 pecans and 1/2 coconut)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 2-1/2 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, eggs, 1/4 cup melted butter and vanilla. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.
3. Mix together the brown sugar, flour, remaining 3 tablespoons butter and pecans. Sprinkle over the casserole.
4. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.

Jiffy Cornbread Casserole

1 (8 ounce) box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn (not drained)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all ingredients and pour into (greased or sprayed with cooking spray) 8x8" casserole dish.

Cook uncovered for 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Great Grandma Della's "Fluff" (aka Watergate Salad :))

1 can (20 oz.) DOLE Crushed Pineapple, in juice, undrained

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows

1/2 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans (we leave these out)

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

MIX first 4 ingredients in large bowl until well blended.
STIR in COOL WHIP.

There ya have it, there is our Thanksgiving Menu!

Halloween Treats for the Kids Classmates

2010-10-28T20:38:00.000-04:00

I made

I made 50 of these for the kids to take to school to give their classmates. It is 2 Kit Kat bars wrapped with scrapbooking paper and a 2.5 inch spider cut from the Cricut Doodle Charms. Super easy to make and fun!

Cricut Message Board member

2010-10-26T15:46:00.002-04:00

I made this for a lady on the cricut message board that is going through breast cancer.

Recipe Friday ~ Sugar Cinnamon Almonds in the Slow Cooker

2010-10-22T06:00:00.001-04:00

This is my favorite snack whenever we are at some sort of festival or fair. They are so addictive. Now, to make them at home in the crock pot. SWEET! Recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.

What you need:
cooking spray

1 1/2 cups sugar (try not to freak out on me)

3 tablespoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1 egg white

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 1/4 cups whole raw almonds (that's what was in the packages I bought; it's a weird measurement)

aluminum foil or parchment paper

The Directions.

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Spray the stoneware well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Set this bowl aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together the egg white and vanilla extract. Pour the almonds into this bowl and stir well to coat. Add your cinnamon mixture to the top of the nuts and toss with spoons to fully coat (too many nuts to do the plastic bag toss---you'd have to do batches).

Put the almonds into the slow cooker and cover. Cook on high for 2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes or so to keep the almonds on the side of the crock from getting too crispy.

When the nuts are all hot and toasty, let them cool fully on a length of foil or parchment paper. When fully cool, store in an air-tight container.

Serves 10.

Fun things.....My Way

2010-10-21T09:57:00.000-04:00

This puppy is still with my boy at the age of 7. I thought it was so cute when he was sitting and watching TV with "puppy" on his shoulder. Usually when puppy sleeps with him, he is almost always draped across his neck.

My Whoopie Pies. Bryan has been calling them Whoopie Cushions, so funny!

Pretzels for the school bake sale. Dipped and decorated by the monkey's. They had such fun.

All packaged up and ready to go.

Buffalo Chicken Panini~ Hello Yummy!

2010-10-20T17:59:00.000-04:00

4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich) from Cooking Light Magazine..

Ingredients

1/4 cup hot pepper sauce, divided
1 pound chicken breast tenders
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
6 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
8 (1-ounce) slices white or sourdough bread

Preparation

Preheat broiler; coat broiler pan with cooking spray. Combine 2 tablespoons sauce and chicken in a medium bowl, tossing to coat. Arrange chicken in a single layer on broiler pan; broil 4 minutes on each side or until done. Place chicken in a bowl; toss with remaining 2 tablespoons sauce. Combine cheese and mayonnaise. Spread 3 tablespoons cheese mixture on each of 4 bread slices; top each with one-fourth of cooked chicken and 1 bread slice. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Arrange 2 sandwiches in pan. Place a cast-iron or heavy skillet on top of sandwiches; press gently. Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted (leave skillet on sandwiches while they cook). Repeat procedure with remaining 2 sandwiches.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.....

2010-10-17T19:47:00.003-04:00

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Orange Cream Cheese Filling

INGREDIENTS

1/2 can of pumpkin
1/3 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 package spice cake mix
1/2 cup milk
parchment paper

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, beat the pumpkin and butter on medium speed until smooth. Add cake mix, eggs, and milk and beat on low until combined, about one minute. Spoon batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet, about 3 inches apart.
Bake until edges are lightly browned (about 15 minutes).

Filling: (adapted from allrecipes.com, oh wait, you didn't rain down accalaids on allrecipis) For the record, this filling recipe sucks, I would go find your own cream cheese filling recipe. The oj does noting for it at all. And, it is too much powdered sugar, not enough cream cheese.

6 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
5 Tablespoons orange juice
5 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter, and orange juice until creamy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar and beat on high for 2 minutes.

spread cream cheese b/w 2 cookies, that is it you are done.

Stain Eraser

2010-10-16T10:10:00.000-04:00

This is the best Stain Eraser EVAH! My mom went on a mad hunt for me back home to get me one. They are extremely difficult to find. The kids have been getting ink pen on their clothes a lot lately and this magical eraser takes it right out. I just read that it has been discontinued by the manufacturer. ugh! well, so much for that! I guess this was a wasted blog post. But, I went to all the work to get it together. If you happen across this stain eraser, buy all that you can, it is awesome!

Train - Hey, Soul Sister

2010-10-14T09:46:00.000-04:00

Train has always been a favorite of mine. I saw them way back when they first were "known" in Omaha with my Bestie from HS. They were opening for Poison. It was a great show! I just love this guy! :)

For Breakfast Tomorrow ~ Ice Cream Caramel Rolls

2010-10-09T19:15:00.000-04:00

I got this idea from my hair stylist. She told me how she makes pans and pans of these for her family when they have special events at their house. I made these one night while hanging out with my bestie at her new home. I was so tipsy while making them, it was so funny! But, hey, I wasn't driving and, I hadn't had that many adult beverages in years. AND, the babies were in good hands. So, I am good! *wink* I just remember standing at the counter, counting, counting and counting, to make sure I had 20. We woke up to the rolls falling out the pan, it was funny, we were laughing so hard! They are so good. I did forget one step, "to turn them over onto another pan so that all the caramel goodness goes in between the rolls".

Ice Cream Caramel Rolls
20 frozen white dinner rolls (dough balls)
4 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ c. sugar
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. butter
1 c. vanilla ice cream

Combine 4 Tbs. sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Roll each frozen ball into cinnamon and sugar and place in a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture over the top of the rolls. Meanwhile in a saucepan, stir the ½ c. brown and white sugar and butter over medium heat. Bring to boil and then remove from heat. Stir in the ice cream and pour over bread dough. Cover with tin foil and let raise over night.

In the morning bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and then flip pan onto a cookie sheet or serving platter.

Recipe found at "In The Vossen Kitchen"

Please Note that you may have to play with your oven time, mine aren't quite done at 20 minutes. Just play around a little. At my besties house, they were perfect, but she had a brand new gas oven.

Recipe Friday ~ Delectable Snack Mix

2010-10-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

I found this wonderful recipe for "White Trash Mix" over at WIP Blog. I love Trish. If I could be the mom that she is, WOW, my kids would only be so lucky. She is so creative and fun. She does the most amazing things and has her own business. *sigh*

I have to admit, I don't like the name of the mix. So, I am changing it to "Delectable Snack Mix"
Trish has some really cute packaging ideas too here and here.

Recipe:

Delectable Snack Mix

1 package mini pretzels (i did not use a full bag, i suppose you could if you wanted to)

5 cups Cheerios

5 cups Corn Chex

2 cups salted peanuts

1 pound of M & M’s

2 packages vanilla chips

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat chips and oil on med for 2 minutes, stirring once. Stir until smooth. Pour over cereal mixture and mix well. Spread onto three waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Cool and break apart. Store in an airtight container.

Try it out--the stuff is totally addictive! (she is not kidding, I usually don't eat a lot of this stuff, but, um, yeah, it is addictive.

Bit of this and that....and a cupcake

2010-10-04T13:51:00.000-04:00

Long time no post. I just haven't been in the mood to post. Ya know, I spend lots of time reading different blogs and I have seen a few blogs that say, "they only read blogs where people are good "writers" or take great photos, blah blah blah." I just guess, I can't write am not very articulate, my photo's are just so-so. So, I was feeling a little down about the whole thing, but, now, I don't care. :) I started this blog for my family mostly cuz we live too far from each other. I am not out to publish a book or get these "great sponsors" to do giveaways and stuff (i am to the point I am annoyed with blogs that do random giveaways, I don't get it) lol!

Anywho, sorry, just saying what is on my mind.... debbie downer here, sorry! :(

This is Miss O and the "stink eye".

Miss O in the absolute most beautiful dress that g'ma gave her and yes, we just wore it to "church". As, we don't have many fabulous functions that we attend here in our world. She looked stunning!

Miss O for "flash back" days at school. She dressed in her poodles skirt. No-one complimented her, she was pretty bummed. They were more interested in the "hippie stuff". How could you not compliment this little lady. Way cuter than any hippie could ever be.

This handsome boy is getting so stinking big. Ugh, he is going to be 7 in a few weeks. And is finally getting loose teeth. His bottom 2 front teeth are loose. I am amazed he has not lost any teeth yet. Must be all the milk that he drinks. :)

And, here is a cupcake card that I made. We are hosting a cupcake event at our church in November. We are inviting the owner of a cupcake shop in a nearby city to come and give her testimony as to how she started her cupcake business. So, so, so excited about this. I love my cricut, This makes for a quick and easy and freaking cute simple and sweet invite. Got to make 50 of these babies.

And, there you have it.

My boring non articulate, not so fancy, have no idea where to put punctuation...... LIFE! LOL! I say this with a sense of humor. If only you could see me roll my eyes!

* Edited* Recipe Firday ~ Pimped Out Popcorn

2010-09-03T18:39:00.002-04:00

I recently stumbled across a way fun Blog, again, and I got this Popcorn on my brain. I am trying to talk myself OUT of getting the ingredients, but, it is just not working.

She starts out with a batch of home made microwave caramel corn.
Microwave Caramel Corn
16 cups popped corn (I used my air popper)
1 C brown sugar
1/4 C Karo syrup
1/2 C butter
Cook sugar, syrup and butter in a glass bowl in microwave on high for one minute. Stir and repeat for a total of five minutes. Should be hot and bubble.
Add:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2-1 tsp vanilla
Mix until foamy. Put popped corn into a brown grocery bag. Pour syrup into bag. Stir to coat. Fold bag over. Place in microwave and microwave for one minute and shake. Repeat. Microwave 30 seconds and shake. Repeat. (Sprinkle with Cinnamon sugar if desired and shake again)

Then, to doctor it up, you will need:
Peanut Butter Chips
Milk Choclate chips
Reese's Pieces

Next, you add all the yummy goodness:

melt the peanut butter chips and drizzled them over the caramel corn and then the melted milk chocolate chips. Then I sprinkled on some Reese’s Pieces – can you really have too much peanut butter and chocolate?? Ummm, NOOOOO!

She has lots of great ideas, I highly recommend you check her out!

*Edited*

Alright y, got this one made. The caramel corn is awesome. I wasn't sure how many chips to melt. With the PB chips, I made an entire bag, you could maybe get away with half a bag. And, these PB chips were not easily spreadable. Does anyone know if you can put oil in it to thin it out or something. And, the choc chips, I made half a bag and that was too much. But, it is very tasty and festive. I am going to give some to my neighbor, she is having family over this weekend. Thought it would be a nice snack.

I remember growing up and our youth group did a lock in at our church to make goodies for a bake sale to make money for church camp. A friend and myself were in charge of making microwave caramel corn to sell. We had a spot set up in the basement of the church with our microwave, ingredients and sleeping bags. We made caramel corn till the wee hours of the morning. I think that my mom made her homemade noodles too. It was so much fun. Good times! ;)

And, one more thing. Remember a while ago how I talked about the Popcorn Popper that you use in the microwave. Well, I have decided to get an air popper. The Micro Popper was good for about one good batch of popcorn. We usually make 2 batches and split them b/w the kids and Bryan and I will split one. The second batch hardly popped and sometimes, would even burn. Bryan could not make popcorn for the life of him in this popper. So, I got a Presto Pop Lite from Wally world, I am sure we will get tons of use out of it. We more than paid for our microwave one.

Dress!

2010-08-30T10:41:00.001-04:00

Here is an adorable little dress that Miss G'ma got for the little lady. She absolutely would not try this on for her grandma while she was here. But, once grandma left and she has her little friend over, she was eager to show it off. She looks absolutely freaking adorable.

This is my first week with both kids in school. I am kind of sad today. I have been waiting a while now to send Miss O, she is rather wild and not easily entertained. The house feels empty and quiet. I will be leaving soon to go to church to do some cleaning.

On another note. I got my first Bee Sting last night at soccer practice. I haven't had one in like a really long time. I was a little kid when I got stung. I was going to push Miss O on a swing and felt this sharp pain in the arch of my foot. I looked down and I was like, what the heck and about passed out when I saw a bee hanging off my foot. All Miss O cared about was getting pushed on the swing. I had to hobble over to the van and wait for practice to be over. I cried like a baby. It hurt like a you know what. I said a few bad words. Stupid Bee, I was minding my own business, pushing my girl on the swing. So sorry, I got in your way. As one of my friends from HS would say, "Bastard." :)

Butterfly House.....

2010-08-28T06:00:00.003-04:00

How did I miss this post. Our adventure to the Butterfly house. This little lady could spend hours in the house looking for all the different butterflies. She wonders off with her "map" and totally enjoys herself.

Recipe Friday ~ Cheesy Tomato Bread

2010-08-27T06:00:00.002-04:00

Hello, Yummy! I found this delicious recipe from MADE.

Recipe:
      Grab yourself a slice of sourdough bread
       Butter your bread
     Chop up some tomatoes and put them on the bread, salt and pepper your tomatos
     Top with Mozzerella cheese
Top with Parmesan Cheese
Pop it in the oven for about 8 minutes, then turn your broiler on. Broil until golden brown and bubbly.
Enjoy!

1st day of 1st Grade!

2010-08-26T11:16:00.000-04:00

Handsome Boy!


The first day of 1st Grade!


Outside his room!

Fall is here! School has started. I am enjoying the peace and quiet. I love my children, but, I can't entertain them enough! My boy absolutely loves 1st grade. He has gotten purple the first 2 days of school. Purple is the BEST color that you can get. Last year, it was very hard for him to get. I am so happy that he is being recognized for his good behavior! Every purple day earns him $1. I think Dad is going to be broke! ha ha!

1st Day of Kindergarten for my Baby!

2010-08-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

On the way to her Open House to put her supplies away and check out her room!


She is such a nut!


Her Kitty Back Pack, so glad it is not a Tink one!

Sending this special girl in to the world! "World, you must treat her well!" Otherwise, mama bear will be rather upset with you!

Bryan Bryan How does your Garden grow???????

2010-08-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

All over the place! :) Yes, we have pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe and tomatoes. All the vine y stuff. Uh, this is our first year. LOL!

Nastalgia.....

2010-08-11T13:28:00.000-04:00

We don't have much to do around our neck of the woods when it comes to entertainment, sometimes we have to work with what he have and trust me, that is not much at all. When I found out we had a drive-in theater not too far from here, we were all over it. We loaded up the kids and some snacks and took the kiddo's to see "Living Large" in the Mini! For a family of 4 it cost us no more than $20 to see a movie at the drive-in. It was lots of fun, the kids didn't quite get it at first, but then, they thought it was pretty cool. We did have to fight of the mosquito's, but, we survived.
Mark this one for the memory books, someday, I am sure a drive-in will be hard to find! :)

In the Kitchen Tip.......

2010-08-08T10:52:00.000-04:00

It is Watermelon and Canteloupe Season. I used to procrastinate having to cut my melons, until now.....

Take a cookie sheet, put a cutting board on said cookie sheet (so that you don't dull your knife) place melon on cutting board and cut away......the cookie sheet catches all of the juices so that they don't run all over the counter and the floor.

Genious, huh????

Last Adventure....

2010-07-25T12:30:00.000-04:00

Making S'mores at our hotel was tons of fun for us and the kids. Check out the smile on B's face, we don't get pics of that all too often. :)

Water Park Fun at the hotel.....

2010-07-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Recipe Friday ~ Popcorn Snacks

2010-07-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

Popcorn Snacks from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
INGREDIENTS

1 package (16 oz) mini marshmallows
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 quarts popped popcorn
1 package (16 oz) M&M's
1 jar (16 oz) dry roasted peanuts

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the marshmallows, butter and oil until the marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.

In a large bowl, combine the popcorn, M&M's and peanuts. Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and mix well. Press into two greased 9x13 inch pans. Let stand for 2 hours or until set.

Oh My Cupcakes..............

2010-07-22T14:55:00.000-04:00

So, we took a little mini vacay with the kids. We went to a water park and stayed at a hotel where we got a s'mores kit and were able to make s'mores outside in a fire pit. We also went to a local gourmet cupcake shop. I was way more excited than anyone else. The kids and I had the root beer float and B had the chocolate peanut butter attack. I also tried the lemon drop. It is the most cutest little shop. I was really surprised how much better a cupcake from scatch tastes than a cupcake from a box. My root beer float was amazing. So moist and tender.

Oh My Cupcakes

Recipe Friday ~ Chocolate Chip Dip

2010-07-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Chocolate Chip Dip from the Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Mini M&M's, nuts, crushed Oreos, or chopped candy bars for topping

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Add sugars and beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Place bowl in refrigerator for about an hour to firm up. Remove from fridge and form into a rounded shape on plate. Cover in desired topping.

Serve with graham crackers or vanilla wafers.

caterpillars

2010-07-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

they are hanging upside down and getting ready to do their thing..... it is really hard to get pics of them in the cup. just not working for me.

Summer Fun - Hand Art by Chicken Socks

2010-07-10T14:47:00.001-04:00

Miss O found this book at the store today and they have been having so much fun making all kinds of animals out of their hands. Who knew that you could make a bunny, dinosaur, sea monster, butterfly, etc.... out of the shape of your hand. I think this is a great book. I hesitated at first, but, it sure has provided lots of entertainment for them.

They arrived......

2010-07-08T12:07:00.002-04:00

our caterpillar's are here! We got ours at Target, they even have the frog one, we would love to try that one too!

Balloon Flip flops

2010-07-08T10:52:00.000-04:00

here they are....
I made 2 pairs of these....I had blisters on my fingers from tying the balloons. but, they are so cute.

Puppy....

2010-07-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Puppy, Puppy, Puppy...
Aunt Deanne bought Noah this Puppy when he was born. This puppy has been by Noah's side ever since. We only had 1 occasion where we almost lost him and that was while we were on vacation in Rapid City at the Mall.
Well, Puppy had to have major surgery the other day. His loop handle thing at the top of his head came undone. Noah broke down in tears. "I can't handle this anymore" he says. Good thing Momma has some sewing skills. Poor puppy is very much loved and very much worn out. :)

Turtle Burger

2010-07-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

I got this in an email. It is funny and gross and interesting all the same. ;O)

Handmade ground beef patties, topped with sharp cheddar cheese,
wrapped in a bacon weave.then the next step, add hotdogs as the heads, legs and tail. Next step?

Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and baked for 20-30 minutes at
400 degrees. A little crispy, not too crunchy...just how a turtle
should be, no?

Recipe Friday ~ Summer Mostaccioli Salad

2010-07-02T06:00:00.004-04:00

This is what I am making for our 4th of July celebration!

SUMMER MOSTACCIOLI SALAD

1 lb. Box mastaccioli noodles
oil
1 ½ cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon “Accent'
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and pepper
2 cucumbers (chopped)
parsley
tomatoes (cherry tomatoes work well since you marinate over night)
sliced red onions

Cook noodles according to box. Coat with oil. Add all ingredients. Chill-stir before serving.

For my brother......

2010-06-30T19:52:00.002-04:00

Isaac, this is for you and for me. Find inspiration in it bro!

Home.....

2010-06-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

We made a quick trip home a couple weeks ago. Hubby's dad retired and his mom had a suprise party for him. it was held out at a farm of a friend. the kids had the most wonderful time.

The farm had two horses that just loved the kids, when the kids would come and play and then leave, the horses would neigh. We were driving off in the golf cart for a tour and they were neighing and when they saw us come back, they neighed again for us. It was so cool. They are such a beautiful animal.

A castle that Miss O and her cousin made. I was told to take a picture. :)

This is my girl who is so sad that she has to leave and go back to her home. I don't blame her. It is so hard to leave what we call "home".

gift bag

2010-06-25T17:52:00.002-04:00

a gift bag I made for my niece for her bday. I used Once Upon a Princess cricut cartridge.

I Am Super Mom!

Peanut Cluster Candy ~ A recipe that I have never posted!

Halloween 2011

Our Summer....

Our 4th of July

We SAW IT......

Getting Closer....

What I am reading...

Rocco our FROG...

OUr Summer so far....

Makes my heart melt...

Recipe Friday ~ Giant S'More Cookies

Recital # 2

Modern Day Baking with G'Ma

summer = dirty feet

A trip down memory lane....

Garden and butts....

She says it beautifully....

Easter 2011

Finding Photo Freedom.....:O)

34....

Old School

Nemo

A Suprise

randomness

Courage ......

Orianthi - Courage ft. Lacey

Cracks me Up

SNOW..... O M G

on us

Clever Gift Idea

Sock Monkey

Miss O Turns 6

This is why, I love this hobby so much

Project Life....

Happy 6th Bday Sweet Cheeks!

Day of Discovery....

Hair cuts....

Recipe Friday ~ Chicken Puffs

Train - Marry Me

In Season....

Platters & Water Balloons

Sllllleeeeeeddddiiinnnnnggggggg......

White Snow

Day Late and a Dollar Short

Evernote

Headbanz....

Christmas.....

CHANGE.....

The Jolly Man

A new blog, I would love to share.....

Love Affair....Have I ever told you.....

Snowman

Cupcake Socks for the Teachers

Tradition.....

Gifts....****ETA***** Sources

Ina Garten's Sunday Oatmeal

We have made this recipe when my the family is visiting. I have this in a cookbook and, we can not find it. Thankfully, it is on the internet. This is some good stuff! :)

*note to me* this is in your handwritten cookbook* :)

Ingredients

Directions

Kid Rock - Born Free

Recipe Friday ~ Baked Chicken Cheese Enchilada's~

~Toothless~

Thanksgiving Cranberry Muffins

Preparation Instructions

An Obsession.....

Cupcake Party

Halloween ~ Better Late than Never

Flat Bread Taco's

*Gobble Gobble* Thanksgiving Menu and recipes

Halloween Treats for the Kids Classmates

Cricut Message Board member

Recipe Friday ~ Sugar Cinnamon Almonds in the Slow Cooker

Fun things.....My Way

Buffalo Chicken Panini~ Hello Yummy!

Ingredients

Preparation

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.....

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Orange Cream Cheese Filling

Gifts....ETA* Sources

note to me this is in your handwritten cookbook* :)

Gobble Gobble Thanksgiving Menu and recipes