Ok...This Is Fun!!

Ben has been in Montreal the last couple of days and when the boys are in bed, I have been taking advantage of my free time. I got Photoshop Elements for my Birthday (way back in May) and I haven't done a thing with it because it is so CONFUSING!!! So, I went on youtube and there are a million tutorials on how to use Photoshop. Thanks goodness!! So, I have been having fun figuring it out and trying not to get mad at it.

This is my first go at digital scrapbooking...what do you think? I think that I will never go back to paper again! How can you beat free downloads vs. paying lots for cute embellishments? Fake sewing stiches vs. taking out your sewing machine and sewing? I mean come on!!! Plus I don't have to keep taking out all my stuff, spend hours cutting and pasting and getting pictures developed! If you are on the verge...hopefully I can give you a little push into digital scrapbooking. Once you go, you will NEVER go back:)

Oh...and did I mention this page only took me 30 minutes to do???

Turkey Cookies

For those of you who have Thanksgiving Parties at school...these might be something fun to try! I got the idea from Puppy Cove...they are so easy! They would be fun for the kids on Thanksgiving Day...at least my kids were really excited about them! Whats nice is you can make them as easy or as difficult as you want.
You can:
make your own sugar cookie....................or get the refrigerated sugar cookie dough
make your own frosting (chocolate and vanilla).........or get the canned kind
use a pastry bag to pipe everything....................or use a ziplock baggie (I would use the pastry bag)
So, I was really excited to make these little guys for Noah's Preschool class (they were having a Thanksgiving Feast)...I made them on Wednesday so they would be ready today. Too bad that all Wednesday night he woke up every 30 minutes throwing up...everywhere!! I have had to do so much laundry today and disinfecting its not even funny. I wish 3 year olds could grasp the "if you have to throw up, throw up in the bowl next to you...not all over yourself, or all over my carpet, or all over your bed/blankets"...it would have saved alot of clean-up. I'm just grateful my sweet husband did the clean up while I dealt with the sick boy. It always makes me sad to see my kids sick. With all that being said...he did not get to go to his Thanksgiving Feast today. I took the cookies in anyway, I just wish he could have been there for it. It sounded like it was so cute!

Now that you have lost your appetite...here is the recipe:)

Turkey Cookies

1 (18 oz) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8 oz) bag candy corn
1 (8 oz) bag miniature M&M chocolate candies
2 oz decorating gel (I used chocolate icing and made the eyes dots with toothpicks)
1 (6.5 oz) can decorating icing (chocolate and vanilla)


Cut and bake the sugar cookies as directed on the package. Cool. With the can of frosting, put some in pastry bag and pipe a line on the top of the cookie that covers about 1/4 of the cookie arc. Place 5-6 candy corn along the frosting row to make the turkey feathers. Next, put icing on the back of the M&M's and put into place. Then using a toothpick (or decorating gel), dab some frosting in the middle of the M&M's. With the vanilla frosting, (tinted orange) make a "V" for the beak - and then an upside-down "Y" for the feet.

P.S...Due to lack of time, I cheated and used the refrigerated cookie dough and the canned frosting. I am so ashamed:( It is against everything I believe in...PHEW, I feel better getting that off my chest.

I Can Finally Sleep:)

Many of you know that I worked at Calico Corners for 4 years and 50 weeks. See the amount of time is very important. Why you may ask? Well, when you have been there for 5 years you get a free chair. I missed it by 2 weeks. Why didn't I wait a measly 2 more weeks? Well, I would have had to have stayed until the chair was in my house...another 11 weeks. I really don't remember why I quit. I just remember that for my family, it had to be done. I was just so close to getting a $1600 chair for FREE!!! So, it has kinda been haunting me.

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from one of my old co-workers saying that our store was closing down and the last day it would be open is November 15. WHAT??? They always threatened us they would close, but we thought it was just talk. Anyway, on one of the last days it was opened, I went there and saw this chair. And the price was so low that it was like I got my free chair! I finally feel like I got what I deserved:) It is such a big, comfy chair! Love it!!! Merry Christmas Summer!!

Captain Gobbler

Caden had his first big project for school...Yes, Kindergartners do have projects:) They had to disguise a turkey. Caden kept changing his mind on what he wanted him to be: a Cowboy, Santa, Batman, etc...We finally settled on Captain Gobbler, the Pirate. I think he turned out pretty cute. Yes, Caden did help:) He put all the sticker accessories on and colored everything. I just did the cutting.

He had to write a little story and this is what it said:
"My name is Captain Gobbler and I am a Pirate! I look for treasure all day with my hook and eye patch. I have a big ship to help me run away from hungry pilgrims!"
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Spice Bread

Hello Everyone! I just made this bread, and everytime I do I can't stop eating it! There is this yummy glaze you pour over the top of it, and let me just tell you that you can literally eat it out of the pan. It's good! So, there is a secret ingredient in this. If I hadn't eaten this first, I probably would never had made it. My mom made this for me when I was a kid and I never knew there was this ingredient in it. When she gave me the recipe...I had to look at it twice! The other night my YW were over at my house and they had some...they couldn't figure out what it was, I told them and they just laughed...So, what is the wierd ingredient??? Check it out yourself! But don't let it hinder you from making it. You should want to make it even more now because you are so curious! I promise you, it is my FAVORITE bread!

Spice Bread

2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon (I usually do close to 2 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I do close to 1 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
2 (6 oz.) jars plum baby food***
1 c. chopped walnuts (opt.)

Sift dry ingredients. Make a well or hole in center of bowl, add everything else. Mix well. Pour into 2 bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or more.
***I have had a hard time finding plum baby food...so this time I used Apple Blueberry...tasted the exact same. It just gives the bread a nice rich color.

Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. margarine
1/8 tsp. soda

Mix in saucepan and bring to boil. Stir constantly. Cook for 3 minutes. When bread is doen, still in the pan, punch holes in it with a large serving fork. Pour sauce over bread and let cool. Freezes well.

So...now that you know the wierd ingredient...whose gonna try it???

Pepe le Pew and Camping too!

This past weekend we went camping with my cousin, Jennie, and her family (we were the only girls, totally outnumbered with 6 boys). We went to Lake Ray Roberts. It was a beautiful weekend to go, just a bit on the cold side when it was time to sleep:) Oh well, we managed and still had a great time! For dinner of course we roasted some hot dogs and had some smores...and that is when pepe le pew decided to join our camp site. That's right, a little skunk. The little boys were having a bit of a freak out...(I secretly was as well, I did not want to smell like skunk). We just took the boys on a little walk while the big boys tried to get rid of it. You know it is tame when the husbands are throwing rocks and sticks at it and it doesn't spray you:) So we just let it do its thing while we did ours. It was the highlight of our trip!!

This is our campsite. Early morning. Making breakfast.
Is this not the cutest picture ever??? Thanks Jennie!!
Here are the little ones, getting warm by the fire.
This picture collage is curtesy of Jennie:) (I need to figure out how to do this...) The boys had fun playing on the playground, especially the tire swing, who doesn't like that???
So the boys could not be more excited for this trip because of the fishing. Ben went out and bought the boys this fancy little fishing pole where all you have to do is push a button and it does all the casting for you. Don't play into "this is the easiest fishing you'll ever do!" business. It does NOT work. For some reason it kept cutting the line. So we would blast the little rod out and BAM! No line. Which explains the next picture.
See that little yellow bobber thing? Well, that is what is blasted out of the fishing pole and inside it is the hook...like I said, the line was cut, so Ben had to wade out in the freezing water to go and get it.
We were so proud:) The funniest part was while we were trying to fix the fishing pole, Landen says, "Well...you are the scientest...." See, Landen thinks Ben is a scientest and Ben went along with it...Clever little boy:)Here is Noah fishing...the line broke again. Lets just say we took the fishing pole back. All in all it was a fun trip and we can't wait till next time!!

Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet!

I hope that everyone had a fabulous Halloween! We sure did! We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house (Ben's parents) to spend the evening. They also got a special treat and went trick-or-treating with Uncle Logan and cousins: Molly and Will. Fun, fun night!
As you can see Caden was a storm trooper from Star Wars and Noah was the cutest Dinosaur you've ever seen. This costume was Logan's when he was 3 years old...
The gang...Noah, Caden, Will (Dragon, how cute is he??), Logan (clown), and Molly (Snow White, so cute!!)

Daddy and Noah, obviously by the end of the night he got a bit tired and had to be held for about 5 seconds...then he was good to go!
The trick-or-treaters in action. If Noah got a candy he didn't like, he was sweet enough to run back to the house and give it back to them saying he doesn't like that candy. How sweet is he?? Yeah right! We thought he was going back to get more candy and we were trying to stop him saying he just gets one, boy were we surprised that he was giving it back...how do you teach a 3 year old to be polite in that way???

After trick-or-treating, the boys were goofing around...here is Noah in Logan's costume. Caden...I think he is some freaked out dino/trooper??

Candy Corn Popcorn

Ever heard of Candy Corn Popcorn? Well, let me be the first to introduce it to you! It is pretty amazing!! I am in the PTA and we made it for the kids classes for Halloween...this lady, Michelle, invented it. Once you try it, you really truly cannot stop eating it! Sorry I'm late in posting this, but hey, you can get candy corn all year round, you can make it any time you want! Thanksgiving would be good as well!

It's called Candy Corn Popcorn because the orange goo is really melted candy corn. I had no idea that stuff actually melted...here is the proof!

This is what we made for the kids classes. Caden already opened his hand, I had to wrestle it out of his hands so I could take a picture of it. But this isn't anything new, just a reminder you can do this next year!


Candy Corn Popcorn

2 c. Candy Corn
1/4 c. Karo Syrup
2 bags of popped natural pop corn**

Melt together, bring it to a boil, and drizzle it over your SALTED popped pop corn.
**If you want to use the popcorn machine, you can do that as well...you'll know how much popcorn you will need to get the right consistency. It isn't like caramel corn where it is drenched in caramel...just look at the picture!