Love is a Plate of Chicken Wings

1. The foam block pit  2. Jumping on the trampoline

3. Treasures found on a nature walk  4. Playground graffiti (I love how someone scratched "poop")

1. Hot chocolate on a cold day  2. Connor "helped" put the dishes away

3. Mustache fabric!  4. Bob the Builder in the rice table

Valentine's Day is gone and we're onto the next holiday I guess. We were in Walmart last night, and they already had the Easter aisle stocked. I have a certain soon-to-be-4-year-old's birthday to plan, I can't be thinking about Easter eggs yet! While at Walmart, I spotted a guy who most definitely forgot to get his girl a gift on Valentines Day. His arms were full of a roses, a stuffed animal, and he was browsing the boxes of chocolates. I bet he got an earful :)

So, how was your V-Day? For our Valentine's Day, my husband and I went to Hobby Lobby, then to Quaker Steak and Lube for chicken wings. When you have kids, any time spent sitting at dinner without having to yell, "Don't throw that on the floor again!" is a good night. There have been many occasions when my husband has surprised me with flowers and chocolates, but for one night, all I wanted was not to have to force feed anyone chicken fingers, fish crayons out of my son's nose, or apologize to my neighbors for excessive noise. Basically, it was the perfect night. I loved having alone time to spend with my husband and just talk.

Remember just talking? Yeah, it's good stuff.

Yes, the kids came up plenty, but there are many days when we both just collapse in bed at the end of the night without having any real conversation. It was nice to just date each other for a night over a plate of chicken wings.

Have a great weekend all!

FOOD: Snowy Road Fudge

This tutorial was originally posted on Kojodesigns for the Winter Whites series. It's deceptively addictive - and a perfect treat for those snowy days indoors!

I had this amazing white chocolate fudge last month at a local outdoor store of all places - I know, not really the place you expect to find life changing fudge, right? I don't usually like white chocolate, but something about this particular fudge concoction grabbed me immediately. I took a bite and fell in love, then started mentally compiling the ingredients I needed to make it at home. There was only one problem - I couldn't justify making it knowing I'd eat the whole pan myself. Then I got an email from Kirstin saying that she and Delia were hosting a Winter Whites series.

The fudge was basically demanding to be made, and who am I to resist?

The Snowy Road Fudge is a take off of classic rocky road, but instead of chocolate, marshmallow and almonds, it has white chocolate, marshmallows and walnuts with coconut thrown in as well. Like I said, everything delicious in one heavenly dessert.

INGREDIENTS: 6 tablespoons butter, 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk, 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff, 2 cups sugar - I forgot to include that in the picture, 12 oz white chocolate (I suggest Lindt white chocolate bars because they're amazing), 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 cup mini marshmallows.

ONE: first, chop up your white chocolate bars into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
TWO: line an 8 inch pan with wax paper or parchment paper and spray well with cooking spray.
THREE: in a large saucepan, combine the first four ingredients and bring to a boil on medium heat. Boil for 25 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture over your chocolate chips and stir well until the chocolate chips are completely melted.
FOUR: add the last four ingredients and stir well until all ingredients are incorporated.
FIVE: pour the mixture into your prepared pan and use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly.
SIX: chill your fudge in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until the fudge has set. Cut and serve. If you're having a hard time getting the fudge out of the pan, run some warm water along the bottom of the pan.

Yields approximately 2 1/4 pounds fudge. Enough to share. Or not.

With each bite, you get the softness of the marshmallows, sweetness of coconut and vanilla and slight crunch from the walnuts. Feel free to cut your fudge into smaller bites but in my house, one brick of fudge equals one serving :)

    Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

FOOD: Valentine Rice Krispies Pops

After I talked about how my daughter usually brings bags of Goldfish and animal crackers in for snack at preschool, I decided I need to get my crafty butt in gear and make a cute snack for her to take in this week since it's our turn to bring the snack. And with Valentine's Day in mind, of course it had to be themed :)

There are very few foods in the world that I could sit and consume the entire contents of. Thin Mints and Rice Krispie treats are at the top of that list. Maybe it's the fond memories of making Rice Krispie treats with mom as a kid that makes them so delicious. Or maybe it's all the butter and sugar. Either way, what kid doesn't love Rice Krispie treats, right? So I made them into heart shapes, drizzled them with chocolate, and sprinkled them with more sugar.

Perfect.

INGREDIENTS: 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal, 10 oz marshmallows, 1/4 cup butter, heart shaped cookie cutter, white chocolate chips or candy melts for drizzling, Valentine sprinkles, cookie pop sticks, baker's twine, bags.

First, I'm going to assume everyone can make Rice Krispie treats by following the instructions on the box :) It's basically as simple as: melt butter, mix in marshmallows until melted, then stir in cereal. Ta-dah!

ONE: spray a large glass pan with cooking spray and press the treats into the pan. Let cool for 2 minutes.
TWO: press your cookie cutter firmly into the treats and cut out.
THREE: if needed, reshape your heart while the treats are still warm (it's pretty impossible to shape them after they've cooled.)
FOUR: admire all of your beautiful hearts!
FIVE: insert your cookie pop sticks into the hearts while they're still warm.
SIX: melt your chocolate chips or candy melts (thin out with a little vegetable oil if it's too thick to drizzle) and immediately sprinkle with your candy sprinkles. 

Finally, insert into bags and tie with some cute baker's twine! Wouldn't these make cute neighbor gifts? I was able to make about 17 pops with the size cookie cutter I had. I might have been able to make more but I kept eating the scraps as I was making them :)

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

Baby Dedication and Lots of Goings On

Happy Friday all!  So much has been going on lately, but when is that not the case??

As I'm sure some of you have noticed, Jen has been doing most of the posting lately.  (and her projects are AWESOME, so that's okay)...  But, I thought I'd give some explanation.  I'm in a rut.  A deep, seemingly never-ending creative rut.  I do plan on doing a more in depth post about this, probably in the next week or two, but I thought I owed you all a reason for my absence.  I'm fortunate enough to have a wonderful sister-in-law and blog partner who holds me up when things get rough.  She's been so encouraging and such a great support.  Hopefully, I'll find my way out of this creative abyss sometime soon. 

In the meantime, check out some of what has been going on.



Probably the best thing that has happened over the past few weeks was that this little guy got dedicated at church.  Flynn was born on 10-11-12 and I got to witness the whole bloody thing because my brother was across the city on a job when Lindi went into labor... he literally walked in the room 30 seconds after I cut the cord.  (despite my disgust, I gave in and cut it.. I couldn't let a stranger cut Flynn's cord!)  That's Flynn up there with his Great Aunt Laurie (my aunt).  He's the happiest, most pleasantly adorable baby I have ever seen.  It was so great to see his life being dedicated to God.. and having the whole family there to support.  I know there are amazing things in store for this little bug!

CRAFT: You Blow Me Away! Valentine

This year has been exciting for me because my daughter started preschool for the first time, and that has opened up lots of new creative opportunities! I won't claim to be Martha Stewart in any way (believe me, I've brought bags of Goldfish and animal crackers most days we've been in charge of snack) but it's been really fun to get into the holiday spirit and have an excuse to make cute treats like Valentines for the first time.

While considering what kind of Valentines to make for my daughter's class, I had to take into account that many of the kids have food allergies. Because I didn't want to leave anyone out, I decided to steer clear of candy Valentines this year. Then I saw Lucy's post on how she used the small plastic jars of bubbles typically reserved for weddings to make an adorable Valentine, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

My daughter loves bubbles (what kid doesn't??) and this little Valentine with free printable tags is the perfect candy-free Valentine.

SUPPLIES: small plastic bubbles found in the wedding/party section of Walmart (mine came in a pack of 24), twine, free printable valentine tags found HERE.

The Valentines are about 2 3/4in wide by 2 in tall. Simply print on card stock, punch a hole in the corner, and tie with baker's twine onto your bubbles. Here's a better picture of what the bubbles look like:

They turned out so cute! I'm sure the kids won't miss the candy, they'll be getting plenty more that day. Plus, I always love to have bubbles on hand for entertaining my kids during long waits at the doctor's office, in the car, etc., so hopefully the other moms will appreciate it too!

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

CRAFT: Rose Trim Valentine Shirt

Due to an endless string of sickness around our house (come on already spring!) there have been a severe lack of Valentine's projects. It's kind of hard to get into the romantic mood when you're busy wiping runny noses ;)

Recently when the munchkins were feeling better,  I took a stroll through Joann's and came upon this adorable rose trim that I had to make something out of! Have you ever walked through the trim section? They have stuff I never even KNEW existed! My mind is spinning with the possibilities. Anyway, when I found the trim, I ran up to the counter and had some cut for me, and then went home and whipped up this really cute shirt for Haley that's no-sew and really fast (minus dry time.) She's requested it several times since I made it, so I'd call that a win!

SUPPLIES: 1 1/4 yard rose trim, shirt, disappearing ink marker, paper and scissors, fabric glue, cardboard or something else to place inside your shirt to prevent the glue from leaking.

ONE: make a heart template and cut out of paper. Place your template on top of your shirt and trace around with disappearing ink marker.
TWO: place the cardboard inside your shirt and begin to glue the trim to your shirt following the heart outline you drew.
THREE: continue gluing your trim to your shirt in a clockwise fashion to fill in the entire heart.
FOUR: let dry according to the directions on the bottle.

This was one of the simplest and cutest shirts I've made for Haley. And it was no-sew - and you know I love that. You could use this same method and substitute different trims. The trim aisle was full of cute options! I've had no problem with the trim coming off but if you'd rather sew it, I'd suggest using a zipper foot so you can sew close to the edge. And set aside some time because sewing it will take awhile ;)

Haley loved this shirt, as you can tell from the pictures above. She kept spinning around, which made it hard to get pictures, but it made me happy to know she likes it! I've washed the shirt several times without incident. I just tossed it in with my other clothes on a cold cycle. You may want to lay it flat to dry though so the roses don't get crushed.

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

Cabin Fever (and Ideas to Beat It!)

1.You've got a sprinkle right there... 2.Dinner 

3.They love each other sometimes :) 4. Playing in the rice table

1.Finger painting 2.How many licks does it take to get to the center of the Blowpop?

3.Candied almonds 4.Biggest glasses ever

We're having some cabin fever at our house, and it's not helping that the weather seems to be confused. Yesterday and Monday it was in the 60's, and today it's snowing. How can I plan for this kind of weather?? One day we're out building snowmen and the next we're in shorts at the park. It's especially confusing for Haley who I have promised to take to the pool in the summer. How do you explain to your 3-year-old that the weather is a little bi-polar lately and while yes, we may be wearing shorts today, that doesn't mean it's summer yet because it's actually winter and it's supposed to be 27 and snowy tomorrow?

Sigh.

My kids are very active (they take after me, I can't sit still!) While that's great and all, a trip to the gym isn't exactly their idea of a good time. We've done finger painting, movies, made homemade playdough...but I'm starting to run out you guys. I may be crafty, but can I make a confession?

I suck at coming up with creative activities for my young children. Like, big time suck at it.

I only became a first time stay-at-home mom as of this past summer. Before that, my husband and I were very blessed to have on-site childcare at our office, so we were able to work while someone else watched our kids (and we got the added bonus of seeing them whenever we wanted to.) Now that I'm home full time, I'm finding it really difficult to come up with activities for two very active children under 5. So what am I to do? Go to Pinterest of course.

Here are some resources I found for indoor activities for those of us with bored kiddos:

10 fun ways to get their wiggles out - indoors from Circle of Moms

9 recipes for everything from Flubber to moon sand and window paint at Frugal Village 

 Snow painting at Really Quite Lucky (OK, this is an outdoor activity, but how fun is this?)

100 winter activities at Living Intentionally

Just a few of the many ideas out there to beat the winter blues. Hopefully some of the ideas will help you (and your kiddos) stay sane this winter!

Have a great weekend everyone!