My Mini Baker!

When your Daughter wants to make muffins, we make muffins 🙂 She may be stubborn like her Daddy (and maybe slightly me 😉 ) but she sure loves to bake like her Momma ❤

She wanted Strawberry and we settled for Strawberry Jam. So what do we do, we turn to Pinterest! We found these muffins and we tweaked the recipe a little, here is our recipe:

Strawberry Jam Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ pound (one 8-ounce package) cream cheese, at room temperature
• ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 cup strawberry jam

Directions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your muffin cups. (we got 24 small and just about 12 big)
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder,and baking soda.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and beat well.
• Add the flour mixture and milk.
• Once all combined add the cup of strawberry jam
• Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 20 minutes, and move muffins to cooling rack

We really enjoyed these, the cream cheese was a nice touch, it gave it that slight creamy taste with a strawberry mix 🙂 Strawberries and cream lol 😉

Enjoy!

 

Carrot & Spice Cookie

Hello cookie world! This is my new cookie in probably 2 or so years and it feels great! Best of all it tastes GREAT (even though A didn’t love it ;-))!

My Daughter wanted a cherry cookie but we didn’t have any cherries so this is what we settled on, and she loved them. So did the boys!

Carrot & Spice Cookie

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 stick salted butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups shredded carrot (freshly shredded for best result)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Cream together butter and sugars
3. Add eggs and vanilla
4. Add vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda & flour
5. Add carrot and mix well
6. Place spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake 10-12min

ENJOY!

I am thinking about maybe making this into a sandwich cookie with a cream cheese icing center, we will see if it happens 🙂

Safe Toddler Finger Painting

What to do with your sick toddlers who don’t want to do anything but be miserable and drive Mom crazy 😉

Hop on Pintrest of course and find something new, fresh and fun…

After looking around at my Kid Activity board I saw finger painting. I haven’t really given this a shot because I always thought it would be more hassle than it is worth to finger paint with 2 toddlers on my own and constantly having to keep the paint away from their eyes and mouth.

Well, I came across these bathtub finger paints and I was curious, it seemed safe and simple enough! Do my kids need a bath…YES! Is this safe and fun…YES! I was all over this! (it ended up being all over them too lol)

Here is the recipe: (enough paint to fill an egg carton)

9 teaspoons of flour

9 teaspoons of warm water 

4-6 drops of baby shampoo

1-2 drops of food coloring (each paint color)

Empty and washed egg carton, with the top ripped off (you can use any containers)

*Mix the first 3 ingredients together, if it is too liquidy add a little more flour to get the consistency you prefer

* Divide the mixture up into as many colors as you want (I put a little in each egg slot)

*Add the drops of coloring to each egg slot & mix with toothpick (add as many drops to get the desired color)

*Place the paints and your undressed Toddlers in the bathtub and let them go to town 🙂

This was perfect! It was something different to do, it took up some time in the day, they loved it and we got their bath done at the same time (after they were done painting of course 😉 ) Believe it or not they never even tried to eat it and it didn’t go near their eyes (even though these paints would of been completely fine to do that)…mommy worries for nothing…but I am pretty sure if it was paint you didn’t want them to eat, that is exactly where it would of wound up.

Sorry I don’t have any pictures because I decided to completely undress my kids no diaper and all (which I realized was a mistake as soon as I saw my son paining certain parts of his body lol, I suggest leaving the diaper on) and it ended up with “inappropriate” pictures to share. Maybe next time I will be a little wiser.

Give it a shot, it is completely safe and I guarantee your child will love it…I mean making a mess, in the tub…absolutely!

A little note goes a long way!

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

Back in April I did this post with a plan to send a note or card to someone every month…I mean how hard could it be…HARD! I would get busy, forget and the next thing you know the month is over. 😦

Well it has been a year and I can definitely say I failed, obviously no one would know it but I certainly do! For the record I feel amazing about the notes, letters and cards I did send, but I also know in my heart I could have done so much better. I still plan to continue this mission because I know how much a little love and inspiration means to me and to get a random note of love can change someones day, week or even life!

The days fly by and I don’t know where they go, but looking back and knowing that I made someone smile because I took the time to send the little bit of love will make it ok! Yes technology is taking over but there is nothing wrong with sending a little snail mail 🙂 If you are so over this “old fashion” way go ahead and send an email. I promise it will make you feel great and it will also make someone else feel very special!

If you received any kind of love note, letter or card from me this past year, go ahead and comment and let everyone know what it meant to you! This is really something I hope people will see and consider doing! Lets spread the love around.

P.S. my awesome husband bought me a laptop for my birthday and I hope to be doing this more often 🙂 ❤

New Year, New You?

Well I guess this is the best time if any to jump back on my blogging train. Yes I miss it and I hope I still have followers lol

I haven’t really been around much in the internet world or social media. I constantly “lurk” but I very rarely post or respond. People are always like why don’t you post more pictures of the kids…well I stink at taking pictures first of all and second I don’t really know why besides the fact that I am busy and it just isn’t one of the things on my list. BUT yes I want you all to see how amazingly cute they are lol 😉

Anyway, like I said life has been a bit crazy. I haven’t done much crafting, baking or even reading because there just never seems to be enough time in the day! I am hoping with the Holidays being over I can start focusing a little more on the fun things I miss.

Since this is what people do I will leave you with a list of goals for 2015 (in no particular order). No i won’t be the one who plans to be at the gym lol!!!

• Focus on my marriage! The twins take up a lot of time and energy which I never regret but with them getting older I need to make sure My Best Friend is happy. ❤
• Be there for my Best Friend to help plan the BEST wedding of 2016 (sorry Bri lol)! You deserve ALL the best ❤
• Do more with my kids, fun activities and all around just playing. We get so wrapped up in the daily routine and I feel by the time I get to enjoy them and play with them they are ready for bed 😦
• Get the house ready to sell and start looking for our next house! We are hopeful to get this house ready and on the market by April. We have a couple big projects left to do but then just little things! 🙂
• Get better Organized. I have been having a tough time balancing life, wife, work and mother and I am hopeful that with better organization I will feel a little less overwhelmed.
• Be the best I can be at my new position. As of today I am now the new CFO at my job! I am very excited and yet very nervous at this new journey.
• Focus more on my family!
• Enjoy the year, less planning (you know as much as I can lol) and remember that everything happens for a reason!

Well I think that is plenty for now! Let me know what your main goal is for this new year! 🙂

 

Happy New Year Everyone!!

A Little Bit Cupid

I don’t know about you all, but I am a sucker for a good love story and when I saw this book, I was like awww cute! I had high hopes for this and I wasn’t let down (I mean look at that cute cover!!!)

This was a free kindle book and was only 84 pages but I still loved it 🙂

A Little Bit Cupid

Goodreads: 3.48 stars

Finding love should be easy, but wedding photographer Phoebe Ward knows better. When Cupid shows up on a crazy mission to help her —and save the world in the process—Phoebe realizes love might be even more complicated than she thought. Even with Cupid showing her Mr. Right , she can’t stop thinking about his best friend, Mr. Wrong.

Cal Crawford has never had time for love, but now he’s falling for Phoebe. Which means it’s got to be just plain wrong to set her up with his best friend, right? But even though seeing Phoebe with someone else will break his heart, he can’t walk away from her.

Phoebe can’t afford to choose the wrong guy with the fate of the world at stake. But maybe Cupid has it wrong. Maybe she has to rely just a little bit on Cupid, and a whole lot more on her heart.

My Review: 5 stars!! Maybe 4.5 but definitely closer to 5!

LOVED it! Such a cute novella, I thought the cupid thing was a little weird in the beginning but I got sucked right into the story that it didn’t bother me! I loved the characters especially Cal and his charming and witty personality.

I would like to say I read this in a day but you know Mom life doesn’t always allow that, but otherwise, this is definitely a one sitting/day read! I mean who doesn’t want to find love, and maybe sometimes you aren’t meant to be with the one you think you are! There is a plan for you, be patient and enjoy life 🙂

Give it a shot, come on it is only 84 pages 😉

 

August LOVE ITS!

August Love Its are as follows 🙂

Root 63 Wine From Sunset Meadow Vineyard (my absolute favorite winery!)!

This wine is AMAZING! It is, “A versatile semi-sweet wine with flavors of strawberry, pomegranate and raspberry.  Pairs well with most everything from pizza and burgers to fruit & cheese”.

I am not all about red but this one we gladly enjoyed while spending a child free afternoon with some of our Best Friends! Great wine, Merlot slushies and just a nice relaxing time!

Fruity Slushies Starburt

 

I stumbled upon these candies at CVS and had no idea about them! New candy…sure I will try it 😉 These are so good, the flavors are Strawberry Lemonade Chill, Blue Raspberry Rush, Citrus Slush (my favorite!) and Cherry Splash. Perfect for summertime!

Lysol All Purpose Cleaner Spray

A cousin of ours brought this on our vacation and she told me she LOVES it and she brings it everywhere and uses it on everything. She said just spray it on the stove, grab a towel and wipe, everything comes right off…SOLD! I bought it for $1.98 and used it and I sure do LOVE it! You can’t beat that price, for something so simple, that works and smells really good! Thanks Christa ❤

Anyone have anything new or cool you think I would like to try??

Have a great Thursday 🙂

 

A discovery turns to a GIVEAWAY!

Who doesn’t love a giveaway?!?! This is my first so we will see how it goes 🙂

This is going to be a book giveaway and the detailed story is below…

Ok, so I am kind of annoyed at this discovery…I own two books with two totally different titles but, THEY ARE THE SAME BOOK!!!

Can you believe it!?!? I was so shocked and very upset when I stumbled upon this discovery…Just ask my husband who kindly went over every bit of the book to make sure I wasn’t mistaken lol

Well here are the books:

The one on the left, I got for Christmas last year and the one on the right I found at the Dollar Store.

So here is the story! I have wanted Simply from Scratch for a long time and I put it on my Amazon wishlist and got it this past Christmas and was so excited, but just haven’t had the time to pick this up.

Well, I was perusing the $ store one day and  decide to check out the book section when this one, “A Pinch of Love” really caught my attention, so I read the back and LOVED it, so I bought it. Well after this past book club selection I decided to pick up something quick, light and fun and picked up A Pinch of Love. A couple nights ago I decided to update my Goodreads books, marking off the ones I own and I went to check off Simply from Scratch when a name caught my eye…Rose-Ellen “Zell” Carmichael Roy, hmmm this is the same character in the book I am reading now! So I checked the author and she wrote both of them, then I was thinking this must be a trilogy or something, so I read the summary and what do you fricken know…IT IS THE SAME BOOK!!!!

That is when Aaron and I search the book all over making sure it in fact is the exact same, then I got mad saying it didn’t even say anything anywhere about this being a remake, and we look and look and what do you know it does in small letters on the bottom:

Right there it says, previously published as Simply from Scratch…UGH! Clearly I was going to like this book since I bought it twice hahaha.

Has this ever happened to anyone before!?!? After researching both of them, they were only published a year apart, and it was an International Best Seller, so I am very curious why the name change happened!

---

 

Now on to the GIVEAWAY 🙂

I am going to give away the one I bought at the Dollar Store, “A Pinch of Love”, yes I know it is just the Dollar Store but if you are interested, it is still a free book 😉 (I have switched to reading the one that I got at Christmas so that I can give the nicer of the two away)

• It is simple, leave your email and tell me your favorite book in the comments below and I will randomly select a winner next Tuesday 8/19, I will announce it here and send you an email.

Well do it or don’t, lets see how this goes.

 

A whole lot of picnicking foods…

Here is a bunch of stuff I have previously posted that I thought might come in handy as we celebrate this Holiday this weekend. Click on the links below and it will bring you to the post 😉

Apps:

Cucumber Salsa

Drink:

Raspberry Punch

Snacks:

Striped Cookie S’mores

Chocolate Dipped S’more Pretzels

Desserts: (because we all know how much I like dessert 😉 )

Pineapple Orange Cake

Oreo Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Caramel Apple Salad

Avalanche Bars

Strawberry Lemonade Bars (which I made this time last year for a party 😉 )

Frozen Strawberry Pie

Butterfinger Pie

Well I hope you find something here that you can whip up quick for your up coming party! Enjoy your day 🙂

 

Carrot & Apple ‘Slaw’ Salad

I absolutely LOVE this salad, it is more like a slaw because everything is grated and it gets somewhat liquidy, but I love it nonetheless! This also has a different almost sweetness to it, that makes for a different refreshing side, as opposed to those heavy macaroni and potato salads. A doesn’t care much for it and some say it is “weird” (yes Scott P I am refering you 😉 ) but don’t let it discourage you! Give it a shot, you can make as little or as much as you want.

Apple & Carrot ‘Slaw’ Salad

Ingredients
4 carrots, shredded
1 apple – peeled, cored and shredded
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
Directions
In a bowl, combine the carrots, apple, lemon juice, & honey. Toss and chill before serving.

Yep it is that simple 😉