Halloween

I realize I am late getting this post up. It is already November! Regardless, the girls had a Happy Halloween. They were decked out in Disney Princess Costumes. Macyn loves Snow White, or "Nose White" as she calls her, and Addison picked Cinderella. I was almost certain she would pick Rapunzel, but I was wrong! I honestly don't even think she has ever seen Cinderella, but I think the crown on the Disney website drew her in. We ordered everything from the headbands, to the wands, to the light up shoes... however the shoes were WAY too small. I won't ever buy Disney Princess shoes again, for that reason. They are too hard to figure out the size, especially when buying online.

We went to the church Hallelujah Night and met up with some friends. Here is Bubba in a CUTE monster costume playing games with Macyn.

They bowled for candy, fished for candy, threw bean bags for candy...you name it. Of course, the #1 attraction was the bounce house.

Gorgeous Annalise

The girls loved this holiday, especially since playing dress up is what they love to do! :)

Cookies, Cakes, and Birthday Parties!

My girls just turned 4 & 2! Oh my goodness time flies, and I am so thankful that God put me in charge of two of his precious gifts: Addison and Macyn!

I can't be like normal people and just order a birthday party set off of the Internet and be done with it. I have to try to make things as difficult as possible, and make everything myself..so this is my homemade Pirate/Mermaid Party. I am already telling my husband to remind me to just ORDER next year so I can de-stress my life a little. He is going to have to probably print this out for me to re-read next year. It is fun to be crafty, but sometimes, it's just a LOT of work.

Bethany (my niece), Addison, Macyn

Here is the Happy Birthday Banner I made with my CriCut!

And see.. there in the middle are the pirate maps and pirate tattoos! I had to do something less girly for my nephews!

My nephew Seth

My nephew Devin

We let all of the kids..and Mamaw...play with play-doh and cookie cutters while we worked on baking the cakes and cookies.

Here is my sweet sister, Heather, who helps me with all of my projects, and who my kids and I adore.

Macyn is telling me she is 1..and technically this is true, if only for just a few more days.

Mamaw and Addison

Beth and Addison

Goodie Bucket: Goldfish, mermaid toy, coloring book, colors.

Here is another Goodie Box for all of the Mermaids out there, filled with tattoos and jewelry.

AND HERE ARE THE COOKIES!!! I just want you all to know, that I practiced and practiced making cookies for this party! :) I had never made cookies with royal icing before, so my friend Jo Slye taught me how. I am totally addicted to cookie making now! I know they aren't the finest cookies in the world, but I am still proud of them!

Glitter fish cookies

Beach Balls

Addison's birthday cake. I actually had a "disaster" the morning of the party. I thought it would be a great idea to go ahead and make the cake and add the suckers, then cover with saran wrap, that way the suckers kept the saran wrap from touching the icing. WRONG! It made the suckers sweat, and drip colored candy goo all over the top of the cakes. I had to go to the store and pick up more ingredients to remake the icing and try to cover up the colored goo. Lesson learned the hard way!

Macyn's Birthday Cake

And here is a pic of another batch of cookies I made for my Aunt Jane, who coordinated our trip to Women of Faith this year.

So as you can see, I am loving these sugar cookies with royal icing! I am having so much fun with it. I am trying to figure out the next occasion that I can bring cookies to! :)

Dress-up

Anyone that has been around my girls for any amount of time would know that they are definitely some girly girls! We went to the dollar store today, and just HAD to buy these press-on nails for two reasons: 1) Because they are Strawberry Shortcake..and we adore Strawberry Shortcake and 2) Because they are "exactly what we need" to play dress-up, according to Addison.

And yes, I know, I paid like $2 a set just for maybe 30-minutes worth of fun, and then they are trash..but what's a mom to do with arguments like that??

I mean, who can say no to cutness like this?? Not me. :)

Crayon Hearts

Apparently I am on a Crayon kick, thanks to the Crayon wreath yesterday. It got me thinking about all of the crayons we have lying around the house.. especially the broken ones. Addison and Macyn both love to color, but since they are only 1 & 3, well they leave them lying on the floor a lot. I end up stepping on more than my fair share of crayons. (At least the ones that Dixie, our Boxer, doesn't eat.) So as a solution to our Crayon problem, I figured we could make these Crayon Hearts!

*** I thought this was a solution until we came back from Nannie's house, and Macyn apparently forgot these were crayons and not candy! It took her two bites to realize they were really yuck.

First thing you need to do is to peel of all of the paper. Addison liked helping with this part. I usually don't let her peel the paper off, so this previously "forbidden" act was tons of fun for her.

Then break them up into small pieces and place them into a baking mold. Make sure it is oven-safe! If you don't have a silicone shape mold, you can use a mini muffin tin.

Place the desired colors together.

Place them in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Once they firm up, they should just pop right out of the molds, and are ready to use! (You can put the tray into the freezer if you are impatient...like me. Just make sure it's in there level, otherwise you will have a colored mess in your freezer.)

These are the perfect size for little hands to hold.

MK really liked them and did NOT want to share.

And here is the look I got when I told her she had to. This looks JUST like her Daddy.

Of course the pink and purple one is Addison's favorite!

-Amber

Indoor S'mores made with leftover Easter candy!

***No actual Bunnies or Chicks were harmed in the making of this recipe!*** :)

We had a great Easter this year, but the Easter Bunny brought TOO MUCH CANDY!! We can also thank my sister Heather, as usual, who hid 220 candy filled eggs! :) Since the girls were so sugared up on Sunday, I decided to put up the extra candy, and I have been just giving them a little here and there. There is no way that I am giving them a whole chocolate bunny again though. Addison had one from Nannie, and she was bouncing off the walls and talking so fast, I had a hard time understanding her!

So, it got me thinking... what to do with all of this candy? I mean, I guess I could just take the easy way out and throw it away, but that would be such a shame. (I DID throw away all of the fruity, taffy candies though....'cause they ain't chocolate!) And then of course, I could just sit around and eat it, but I like to make things more complicated than that!

How about something a little more creative?? Well, my friend Amber posted a recipe on her blog, Lotus & Honey, not too long ago and I thought I would give it a try, but instead of using the regular ingredients, I used Easter Candy--Chocolate bunnies and Peeps!

Here is what you will need. You can use a variation of this.. whatever chocolate candies you have will work. If you have a gazillion individually wrapped ones, well unwrap them and let's get started. Just make sure you have marshmallows and chocolate.

Step 1: Melt the butter in a LARGE pot on the stove. (You will be adding a whole box of cereal to this later, so make sure you pot is big enough.)

Step 2: While your butter is melting, chop up about 5-6 Peeps, and set aside.

Step 3: Throw the rest of your Peeps into the melted butter and stir until they are melted.

Step 4: Add your 12 oz. box of Golden Grahams, stirring well so that all of the cereal gets coated in the marshmallow/butter mixture.

Step 5: Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 dish. Press down the cereal using parchment paper to keep your hands from getting sticky. (Thank you Amber for that tip!)

This is what it should look like. It is tinted a little pink because of the Peeps we used.

Step 6: Sprinkle the reserved Peeps to the top.

Step 7: Chop up all the chocolate you are using and put in a bowl to melt. (You can use a double broiler if you have one, but I don't.) Melt the chocolate in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until completely melted.

Step 8: Pour the chocolate over the cereal mixture and wait until it hardens.

Step 9: Gobble it up! These are way better than traditional S'mores!

And of course, here are a few pics of the girls while they were anxiously waiting for the chocolate to cool.

I love this picture :)

Addison said, "Shhhh! Keep your voices down while I am on the phone!" Guess she's heard THAT a few times!

Hope you guys enjoy this recipe!

Indoor S'mores

PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 TBSP Butter
• 12 oz box of Golden Graham cereal
• 10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows, 1-1/4 cup reserved. (I used 15 Peeps, 5 reserved.)
• 23 oz bag of chocolate chips (I used 3 chocolate bunnies.

DIRECTIONS:

• Step 1: Melt 8 TBSP of butter in a large pot. (You will be adding a 12 oz box of cereal to this, so make sure there is enough room!)
• Step 2: Chop up your reserved Peeps, if you are not using mini marshmallows.
• Step 3: Add your marshmallows, all but the reserved 1-1/4 cup.
• Step 4: Add your 12 oz. box of Golden Grahams, stirring well so that all of the cereal gets coated in the marshmallow/butter mixture.
• Step 5: Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 dish. Press down the cereal using parchment paper to keep your hands from getting sticky
• Step 6: Sprinkle the reserved Peeps to the top.
• Step 7: Chop up all the chocolate you are using and put in a bowl to melt. (You can use a double broiler if you have one, but I don't.) Melt the chocolate in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until completely melted.
• Step 8: Pour the chocolate over the cereal mixture.
• Step 9: Gobble it up! These are way better than traditional S'mores!