Recipe: Rice Krispie Turkeys

I made these cute little guys for Thanksgiving last year and they were a huge hit! Even with the adults, LOL!

Rice Krispie Turkeys

Ingredients:
1/4 c butter
8-10 oz mini marshmallows
6 c Rice Krispies
Oreos
chocolate icing
candy corn
PAM cooking spray

Directions:
Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove top

Add the mini-marshmallows and stir until the melt into the butter

Mix in the Rice Krispies

Let cool (approximately 5 min)

Twist apart Oreos and scrape out the icing with a butter knife

Spray hands with PAM and begin shaping the Rice Krispie mixture into balls approximately 1 1/2" in diameter

Frost the insides of the Oreo cookie halves with the chocolate icing.

Place each ball on an iced cookie half.

Add candy corn to the remaining cookie halves like a fan. Make sure you leave enough open icing for them to stick to the Rice Krispie balls.

Stick a cookie "tail" onto each Rice Krispie ball.

Use a butter knife to put chocolate icing on a piece of candy corn.

Stick iced candy corn to the front of each ball to be the turkey's head.

And... enjoy! Aren't they cute?

Lost in the Middle

Yesterday was Mother's Day, the end of a long, busy Mother's Day weekend for our family.

Friday was Homeschool Field Day for Jena, then running errands with Jillian.

Saturday we had Jillian's birthday party, then dinner with my mother-in-law to celebrate Mother's Day for her.

Sunday Jena had a soccer game, then lunch with my mom to celebrate Mother's Day for her, then back to MIL's house for dinner to spend a bit of time with Jason's brother before he heads back to California.

There was no Mother's Day for me.

Yes, Jena got me a popsocket for my phone, which she bought when Jason took her shopping for Jillian's birthday present, and they remembered they needed a gift for me... but only after they saw the Mother's Day signs at Target. Even though they both knew the errands I was doing included shopping for presents for my mom & MIL.

It was a busy weekend, a good weekend, but the truth is I was forgotten, lost in the middle.

Kids, kids, parents, kids, parents, kids, parents, parents. No me.

I suppose this is what middle-aged really means. You're in the middle. Doing it all on both ends, but getting lost in the meantime.

As I sit here sorting out my feelings as I write, I realize it's not so much about the holiday itself, it's the getting lost, the invisibility of it all.
It's not that there wasn't time to squeeze in something for me, it's that it wasn't even thought of.
It wasn't that my gift wasn't something I particularly wanted, it's that the idea of a gift was completely forgotten.

I'm a mom. I've been a mom for nine years. Not only am I a mom, it is quite literally my job. I'm a stay-at-home mom. I'm a homeschooling mom. I literally spend 24/7 being nothing more than a mom. A noble job, don't misunderstand me, but it is what I am, what I do. And yet on the one day a year set aside to celebrate that very thing, I am completely forgotten, lost in the middle of generations.

Spending half of my weekend tending to our children's activities, and the other half celebrating our own mothers, putting in the time & effort to try to make everything nice for everyone else, but at the end of it, there's nothing left for me.

It sounds a bit whiny, I suppose. No one's paying attention to me and what-not. But it's what I'm feeling at the moment, take that however you must. It just would be nice to be noticed from time-to-time, to be appreciated. But such is the life of a mom, I suppose. Taking care of everyone else so they can do their things, and the act of taking care becoming the one thing that is yours.

It's so easy to become lost in the middle, lost in motherhood. I've recently tried to stake a claim in some activities in order to retain my own identity, give me something that is mine alone to do, and I'll detail that a bit in my next post.

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What about the other moms reading this? What do you do to make sure you don't get lost in the middle? What steps have you taken to hold on to yourself while you take care of others?

As always, thanks for checking in!

How My 9 Year Old Found Out about the Easter Bunny (and Santa Claus)

I have worked very hard to keep the magic alive for my kids for the past nine years. Very hard. This past year I thought Jena might be starting to figure out Santa, but alas, ends up I was wrong. How did I find out? Because when the truth was discovered she was absolutely devastated. So how did that happen? I'm glad you asked.

Jena hunting Easter eggs at my parents' house, 2017

The day before Easter Jena blurted out "I saw the text you sent Daddy last night!"

Uh oh.

The night before Jason had been on shift. I had not had time alone to shop for the girls' Easter baskets, so I sent him a text around 11pm asking him to stop at the store on his way home to pick up stuff for the Easter bunny to bring.

And she saw it.

Here's where the added layer of parenting gets added.

She saw it because she was disobeying. She has been instructed numerous times to not read any messages on any adult's device. Jena's iPad had died, so in the morning I had given her Jason's old iPad to play games on. At some point she apparently opened the messages and read (at least) that one.

She flat out asked me, so when I had the chance I took her into her room, just the two of us, to talk it out. She was absolutely crushed. Then she asked if that meant Santa wasn't real either. Devastated.

Why the devastation? In her words, because it means "magic isn't real".

I tried telling her it was a different kind of magic, it was Mommy Magic, but she insisted, correctly, that it's not the same.

I gave her the option in the future of either:
    a) pretending none of this ever happened, and both of us going thru the motions as if it were all real, just like before, or
    b) joining in on the magic with me and helping to make things special for her little sister

I told her she could decide at any time, and she didn't even have to tell me. I would just know by her actions what she wanted to do.

I also told her to be sure not to talk about it with her friends unless she knew for sure that they already knew. I explained that lots of parents work really hard to keep life magical for their kids, and if she told them they would feel just as bad as she did now. I also told her she would be in big trouble if she ever told her little sister.

It was a really difficult afternoon, lots of crying over her new realization, but by that evening she was slipping me pieces of candy to put in her basket.

Of course we still had to address the disobedience that got her there in the first place, but she wasn't having it. She's been in a rather rebellious & disrespectful phase lately, and insisted on telling me that it was all my fault and I ruined her Easter because I should never have sent the message in the first place.

Because... of course. And because... she's nine.

But that is another topic for another time.

What about your kids? Have they figured it out yet? How did they find out?

As always, thanks for checking in!

Happy Independence Day!

Recipe: Stars & Stripes Cookie Bites

I made these cookies for our family's Memorial Day picnic and they were a big hit! Cute & delicious. Not one was left. If you like soft cookies like my family does, the secret is cake batter. Keeps the cookies soft like cake, but with the right other ingredients, firm like cookies. Could be used for any patriotic holiday, like the upcoming Independence Day. Enjoy!

Stars & Stripes Cookie Bites

Ingredients:

One 15.25 oz box of french vanilla cake mix

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup red sprinkles

1/4 cup blue sprinkles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. I recommend adding one at a time, in the order listed, and stirring after each addition.

Spray cookie sheet(s) with Pam baking spray.

Drop dough by large spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Don't worry if they're not pretty! That's what the cookie cutter is for!

Allow to cool on cookie sheet.

After cooling at least 10 minutes, use star-shaped cookie cutter to cut into shape.

Serve and enjoy!

Here Come the Holidays

Ready or not, they are barreling down on us at top speed.

Halloween barely behind us, we've started negotiations on our schedule for Thanksgiving with both sets of in-laws, and Christmas is on its heels.

So what is your holiday schedule like? Ours changes every year. Regretfully. I grew up knowing exactly where we were going to be at what time on every holiday. A decade of being together later, and Jason & I still haven't managed to work that out with our families.

Part of it is that we are working schedules with both sets of in-laws / grandparents. Growing up neither of us dealt with that or saw it dealt with. Other than our household, my family only ever went to my mom's extended family. Jason only ever went to his dad's extended family.

We are blessed to have relationships with both sides, but I have to admit it makes for a stressful holiday season! For me anyway, since I'm usually the one trying to work out the schedules for our little household. Trying to keep everyone happy is hard work! And usually doesn't work anyway! LOL!

So what do you do? How do you work out holiday schedules?

Till next time,

Happy Easter !!

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Happy New Year

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Merry Christmas !!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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No Carve Halloween Pumpkins

 

These are our Halloween pumpkins from last year. Easy, no carving mess, I love 'em.

What you'll need:

medium- to large- size pumpkin
stencil of chosen critter
black matte spray paint
self-stick laminating sheets
sharpie
scissors

Place a laminating sheet over the stencil. Trace the pattern onto the laminating sheet with the sharpie. Once finished, cut out the stenciled shape from the laminating sheet.

Stick onto pumpkin (make sure it's sticking really well, especially around the edges of the stencil).

Take the remaining parts of the laminating sheet, cut into strips, and use to wrap the stem of the pumpkin.

Spray paint, covering all surfaces.

Let dry.

Remove laminating sheets (strips from stem, and pattern from main part of pumpkin)

And... you're done!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Labor Day !!

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Autumn Bucket List

With Autumn (my favorite season) rapidly approaching, my mind is already spinning with things I'd like to do this year. So what better way for this list-loving crazy to celebrate the upcoming season than to make an Autumn Bucket List?

This Autumn I Want To:

- have the house decorated for Fall by September 15

- have the house decorated for Halloween by October 1

- have the house decorated for Thanksgiving by November 1

- have a Halloween party. We've never hosted one before, and I haven't been to one in years.

- take Jena to a Pumpkin Patch. She's been asking every few weeks since we went last October

- take a fall-ish trip with the hubs. Our anniversary is in the Autumn, and I love a good romantic trip in the Fall weather.

- take Jena to see a marching band perform

- find a homeschool or distance-learning program to enhance Jena's education.  Not necessarily enroll yet. Just research and find something we're happy with.

- read a book. An entire book. Paper or electronic version. Need to read more.

I'll try to remember to keep ya'll updated on my progress.

How about you? What's on your Bucket List for Autumn?

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this post inspired by this post

Happy Independence Day !!

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Happy Memorial Day

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Bunny Rolls (or Kitties. Whatever)

I decided to try my hand at making bunny rolls for Easter.

They were yummy, but didn't quite look as I'd hoped. But I still think they were cute, so I'm sharing. Enjoy

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1) Buy frozen rolls. The kind that come in little balls.

2) Set them out to rise. This normally takes 2 - 4 hours. Read the bag for better instructions. Being the awesome chef that I am, I had no idea it took so long when I started. At 10pm the night before Easter.

3) Once they have risen sufficiently (usually twice their original size), take kitchen shears (scissors will suffice), and cut bunny ears into the dough. Cut bigger than the pictures I'm showing you or you'll end up with kitty rolls instead of bunny rolls. Trust me.

4) Bake the rolls as per instructions on bag.

5) Take them out & let cool.

6) Poke "eyes" in each roll.

And... you're done!

I'll try another batch and see if I can get the ears sized more appropriately. Will post if I manage it. While I still think they're adorable, I do think these look more like cats than bunnies.

On to try again next time!

Happy Easter!

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Easter Craft: Peep Wreath

 

Now, in case you haven't noticed, I don't post a lot of crafty-goodness on my blog. Why, you ask? Because I'm not the most talented in the craft area either. True story.

But this one? Seriously easy.

#1 - buy a straw wreath

#2 - buy lots of Peeps. I chose to go with all yellow, but you can go with whatever colors you like.

#3 - buy toothpicks

#4 - buy ribbon

#5 - buy a can of spray sealant

#6 - wrap ribbon around wreath

#6 - stab wreath with toothpicks

#7 - impale Peeps on toothpicks

#8 - spray the crap out of the wreath with the sealant. I recommend spraying it completely. Letting it dry, then going at it again. Seriously, you want this thing like Fort Knox. Why? Because bugs like to eat Peeps too. Sealing it prevents the food product from decay and from buggies realizing there's yummy food hanging on your wall.

#9 - use remaining ribbon to make bows and / or hanger

and that is seriously it folks. Oh, I could fluff it out, use more words, and make it sound more complicated, but it's really not.

I didn't put amounts of supplies on there for two reasons.

- it depends on how big of a wreath you choose to get
- I totally forgot to pay attention & write down how much I got of each thing. My really-bad-you-totally-shouldn't-trust-it-memory says that you need a 6" wreath, 18 boxes of Peeps, and 12' of ribbon. But seriously, don't hold me to that.

All that being said, isn't it cute?

My non-crafty self is pretty proud.`


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craft inspired by this post

Valentine Cookies

Well, one of my goals for 2013 is to learn to make pretty cookies. You know, something like this:




 

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  Seriously, I am apparently lacking in the cookie-making department. I don't know why, but it's a struggle for me. I try, especially at Christmas time, to make pretty sugar cookies, but to no avail. And so that is one of my goals for this year.

My first attempt was at Valentine's Day. My goal was simple: ice pretty hearts on cookies. These are some of the better ones -

 

Honestly, about half of them came out with pink blobby-looking circles on them.

But my friends told me they were still yummy, so I guess that's something.

Looks like I need some more practice!

Happy Valentine's Day !!

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