~S'mores Cookies~

It's official. I've got an open invitation to parties if I bring these along.  They are the biggest hit! And thank goodness I'm not a chocolate fan/ sweets kind of gal or they might not have left my house.  They really are that yummy.  (I had to try one, of course!) 

I've taken these Graham Cracker S'mores Cookies 

(with my own short-cut)to two parties in the last month and they have been devoured within minutes of putting them on the dessert table.

I cheated and picked up the pre-made "ready to bake" cookie dough both times.  Sometime when I am not in such a hurry to

make-something-last-minute-and-run 

I'll try the original recipe.

I used four mini marshmallows per cookie and just smashed them into the dough and dropped them onto a graham cracker.  Two dozen cookies fit perfect on my pizza stone.

I bought the XL Hershey's bars the first go round and had to break them in half they were so big.  So the second bunch I purchased the mini (snack size) bars and they were just right.  

The marshmallows really poofed up in the oven.  Make sure and watch the Hershey's bars when you put them back into the oven. 

You don't want them to melt completely. 

The cookies might all melt into one another but it's nothing that a little spatula can't fix by cutting them apart easily after they cool for a bit.  

Perfect for a cook-out, rainy day, or movie night with the family! 

Or just because.

You'll want more than one.

Trust me.

I'm more of a "salty" girl and I could have eaten a second.

Happy S'mores making!



~diary of a birthday kid~

He woke to find his favorite color of the traditional birthday streamers hanging from his door.  Mom had to pull the door shut to get a picture because you wouldn't want to see inside.  If you did, you'd wonder why we even left the house this day at all instead of staying home and cleaning up his room.  

But it was his 8th birthday.  

And we had an adventure planned for the day.

Be advised: photo dump, junk food, sugar, sugar, and more sugar.  Did I mention junk food and sugar? 

Yep.  Looking back at these photos I'm asking myself what i was thinking.  But we had fun.  TONS of fun.  

Just Derek and me. 

 

I told him months ago when we ran into the local gas station that he could have some of these little gems, "maybe for your birthday."

Guess what?  He remembered.  So we ran up to the store and got these for breakfast.

Later in the afternoon, we headed for the "big city" about 40 miles away to visit a few places and take advantage of some coupons. Derek's request for lunch? 

I-Hop. 

This boy loves pancakes.  L.O.V.E.S. T.H.E.M. 

He was too full to finish his plate. 

Somehow he managed to find room for the ice cream the whole staff brought out to him while singing 'Happy Birthday'.  He got a kick out of that!  But he immediately told me to get the red cherries off the top.  He's not a fan of those maraschino ones!

What would you like to do now, Derek?? 

What's that? 

You want to go ride the escalator at the sporting goods store??  Um....OK! 

(It really is the simple things, isn't it??)

I don't typically take pictures including me,

or the inside of a bathroom,

or of me and my kid inside a bathroom,

a really yellow bathroom... 

BUT

today was an exception.

First off, I hope I'm not the only mama out there who still makes her kid go into the woman's restroom with them if need be.

If dad is along or big brother, by all means... head to the men's.

But there are some pretty weird people out there.

And you just never know who's inside!!

And I can't go in to peek.  

So guess what?

He got stuck with me. 

But we thoroughly enjoyed the huge mirror and took advantage of making funny faces and weird poses and I just had to get the camera out and take a few.

(Just glad nobody walked in on us being silly!)  

I'd like to know if there are any other kids out there able to walk by one of these without putting? Mine can't.

Off to Chuck-E-Cheese to use his 20 Free Birthday tokens.

Yep... I'm that kind of mama.

You send us a coupon for something free and I'm there.

Skee-ball never gets old... no matter how old you are!

Some of my favorite photos are the sketches from this place.

We have ones of both the kids through the years but this was the first time I jumped in with him. 

I'm glad I did. I mention on my ABOUT ME page trying to get more pictures including me since I'm always behind the camera.

Slowly but surely it's getting easier.

Off to the book store to pick out a new read.

 Mama got a Grande Carmel Frappaccino, but she shared.  

Derek got his free birthday treat for being part of the Kids Club at the store.  He picked the chocolate brownie with chunks. More than half came home with him for later!

(And yes.. if you are keeping track so far we have donuts, pancakes, ice cream, frap, and brownie. Oh my!!)

We're finally back home and he can try out his new mini basketball that he bought with birthday money from grandpa.

It "works" really good!

What would you like for your birthday dinner Derek?

Red Baron pizza (don't ask!!)

Red potatoes

Frozen Red Grapes

Red Cherry Dump Cake

 It was a RED dinner, indeed.

It is his favorite color after all!

I'll always remember this day with my boy!

It was sweet! 

*************************

Disclaimer:

Not a paid advertisement or endorsement for any product, service, company, or brand.

~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

enjoying the first bite from the brownies that he made from scratch

~easy, crispy, powdery~

Yum! We added strawberries to our Powdered Sugar Crisps but they were good plain, also.  The recipe can be found here if you are interested.  This was a great recipe to use to help teach Derek fractions earlier this school year.  Enjoy!

~attention: noses~

What are some of your favorite scents?

Would you pick vanilla, coffee, bread, lavender, grass being mowed, gasoline, oranges, or babies?? Some of these are my favorites, while others I could live without.

If I could make a new scent for a candle, it would be called

"Rolls Rising".  Love. This. Smell.  Love it!!



Everyone has completely different opinions on this. 

I'm nosy and want to know what some of your favorites are.  

Be a sport.  We won't judge.  We might even have more in common with one another than we already know.

What makes you take a *deep breath in* to inhale smelly goodness?



~snack time~

Big brother: "Why does my raisin have a stick in it?"

Little brother: "Duh, Austin... They were grapes, you know!?!"

~ with lemon, please~

Water.... with lemon, please.
That's my new drink of choice.
Since January, I've been trying to cut out Pop. (I call it pop... some call it Coke or Soda.  It's always been "Pop" for this gal.)
I loved Diet Pepsi.
Couldn't get enough.
Now it tastes funny to me if I drink it. 
At first, I cut back to just ordering Pop if we went out to eat somewhere. 
Now, it's either tea or water.
I can honestly say that I can tell a difference from this change.
In numerous areas.
I thought it would be harder than it was, but it wasn't.

One thing that helped was buying this cool cup with straw.
I love it.
I carry it to work.
It's in my cup holder at every ball game.
It's on my coffee table in the evenings.
It's on my nightstand until morning.
My kids take sips and think it "tastes better" in this cup.
As pricey as it was, I still might just have to buy a couple more for the rest of the group.

It's like buying a new pair of shoes, or a new color of nail polish.  If something just looks pretty to you, you are drawn to it more.
Thank you, my yellow-green cup, for encouraging me to drink more water.

Please share... whether it's coffee, tea, pop, soda, water, beer, Kool-aid.  Just shout it out..What's your drink of choice??

**Now I have to admit that as I read this post back, it's making me sing "Red Solo Cup" in my head!  Or, should I say, "Yellow-Green Cup"!?! And now I'll raise my cup saying, "Cheers to you, my friends! Happy Tuesday!" 

~Easter treats for kids~

Tomorrow will be the last day of school for the kids before Spring Break.  Derek's class will be having a little celebration at school and the teacher asked if I'd send in some treats for the kids.

I can't wait for her to ask.

I pounce on the opportunity to contribute and go in to volunteer. 

I'm one of *those* moms. 

And I'm proud of it!  

This year, we decided to make Carrots and Bunny Tails.

*Warning... Picture overload below*

Goldfish Carrots

Marshmallow Bunny Tails

All we needed to buy at the grocery was the Goldfish crackers and the Marshmallows.  I had everything else on hand, including the Wilton Carrot Baggies and ties.  I love grabbing things the year before when they are on Clearance... right after the holiday.  It's just a matter of remembering that I have them that next year! 

Wilton Carrot Labels and Ties

It was a perfect opportunity for some Math fun, too.  Since Derek is studying measurements in school, we used the 1/4 cup and he had to scoop out two helpings per bag. 

So, each carrot holds 1/2 cup of crackers.

Next, we moved onto making the Bunny Tails.  I've seen these made with the Large Marshmallows before, but we opted to buy the mini ones for the younger kids.  I didn't have the heart to put "Baby Bunny Tails" on the labels, though.  It just sounded really wrong!!

I made and printed off a sheet of paper to make labels.  We used a scalloped scissor to cut them out. 

Derek picked the bunny image.  It seemed fitting when they were stapled onto the baggies.  It looks like the bunny is spooked a bit! Thinking,"Oh no...... where's my tail?!?" 

He wrote who they were from on the back of each label. It was tricky trying to explain to him how he had to write his name upside-down before we folded and attached them. 

Just glad I printed off extra.....

we had 5 that were "practice" ones. :)

 We dropped them down into some festive Easter bags this morning and he was off for school to deliver the treats!

As the bus pulled away, I couldn't help but wonder how many treats would actually make it to school not smashed...

or uneaten!

Now...Head on over to Creation Corner or Today's Creative Blog or Craft-O-Maniac for some other crafty ideas!

~banana bread~

I can close my eyes and smell it now. 

The scent of warm bread baking away in the oven.  

~Mmmmmmmmm~   

This banana bread recipe was given to me from my neighbor across the street.  She and I are always sending food back and forth to try out.  This recipe is one that I use faithfully.  Every time. I usually make a loaf on Sunday afternoon so that the kids can have it to eat for breakfast or a snack that coming week.   

It's always fun getting kids involved in cooking, too.  My little guys like to mash the bananas and measure the ingredients.  We usually have 3 kinds of bananas in our house at any given time. They are referred to as, "the green ones, the yellow ones, and the brown ones." Make sure to use the brown ones for this recipe!  Nice and soft ones... easy to mash!!     

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Banana Bread

1/3 cup Crisco Oil

2 bananas (not fresh ones!)

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup nuts (if desired)   *I always throw in chopped walnuts!

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Beat oil & bananas together- add milk & vanilla,

then dry ingredients (flour last).

Mix all ingredients and pour into loaf pan.

Bake in oven preheated to 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Let cool before slicing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share? 

Please feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments for all to see and try!

Enjoy!! 

Click here to check out some other recipes and creative ideas! 



~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by Soule Mama

 

 

 

 

~vintage planters~

Little Lamb Crochet Hook Holder

One of my favorite things to do the first weekend of the month is to browse around our local flea market for junk treasures. 

Vintage planters can be found by the numbers, although I am rather picky about which ones I bring home.  I remember my grandmother having a whole cabinet filled with tons of these.  She told me they were filled with a plant in the back and were given to her as a baby gift after the birth of one of her seven children.  These little planters come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and animals.  I'm rather fond of these vintage planters, as you can see proof scattered about our home. 

The Little Lamb pictured above is my favorite.  It was my first purchase and I think it is just lovely with the gold accents.  It holds some of my crochet hooks so that they are easily accessible.

Polka-Dot Fawn Teaspoon Holder

 The Polka-Dot Fawn sits on top of our microwave and holds our teaspoons and tablespoons.  They look cute displayed out in the open, instead of tucked away in a drawer, and are easy to grab while I am preparing something tasty.

Pink Donkey Tea Buggy

Our Pink Donkey carries a load of teas in his buggy and you can find him sitting next to our Fawn on top of the microwave, too.  It's a convenient place to have tea ready to grab, rip open, steep in boiling water, and enjoy!

So, the next time you are looking for a lovely and frugal container for your goodies, look no further than your local flea market...  or you might just want to peek into your grandmother's cabinet.