She-Ra

She-Ra

Princess of Power

For those of you who can't remember who she is I have included the image below. I'm not sure I should be telling you all this, but it really is a funny story so I feel like I would be holding back for the sake of pride if I didn't share it.

 

So a few months ago hubby and I discovered She-Ra reruns on tv and decided to DVR them so we could show Lizard a show that we grew up watching. More often than not when you see a show you watched as a child you think to yourself, "Why on earth did I like this show. It is so lame." 

Not so with She-Ra. It's still a kids show so the writing isn't amazing, but they always have a good moral at the end of the story and her sword turns into anything she wants it to. Neat.

Well, after watching a couple of episodes we find out that Lizard isn't the only one who likes the show. Little Bird, who will not sit and watch any show that's on for more than five minutes is OBSESSED with She-Ra. This is how I found out...(I threw in the clip at the end to prove it wasn't a one time thing)

We were down stairs playing in the basement when she suddenly started going ballistic and screaming for She-Ra. I ran for my phone because I couldn't believe it. She begs to watch the show constantly and when she says her prayers along with mentioning The Chief, mommy, daddy, etc, She-Ra gets thrown in there two or three times. I might have to come up with a She-Ra dress up (a modest version of course) because right now Cinderella doesn't hold a candle to She-Ra as far as Little Bird is concerned.

Donuts or Doughnuts?

Who cares how it's spelled. What matters is how they taste. I really wanted to try this recipe for Old Fashioned donuts (my very most favorite), but I didn't think they would be good leftover and I did not want to allow myself to eat them all. On Wednesday night I was watching some kids while their moms went to a camp meeting and so I decided to make donuts for them. Glad I did...I need another excuse to make these soon.

If you want the recipe you can go here:

http://christiescorner.com/2011/10/19/recipe-old-fashioned-sour-cream-doughnuts/

My center hole is a little larger than it should be, but check out the doughnut holes you get from a larger hole. I'd say it worked out okay.

Cute Boy

Looking good in his Sunday duds.

Modeling a bib I made him.

Lizard Gets Crafty

Lizard used one of the snow days to work on a craft she'd been wanting to try. We "up-cycled" peanut butter and jam jars to make these. "Up-cycling"... not to be confused with re-cyling which is soooo two years ago.

Super glue a plastic animal to the lid, tape the jar so paint doesn't get all over it, and then paint the figure and lid all one color. I bought some glossy acrylic paint at Walmart. You can also use spray paint if you're worried about brush strokes, but what's the fun in that?

Once the jar is painted you can fill it with craft items like crayons, beads, etc.

The Fluffy Stuff

SNOW DAY(S)

This past week Lizard had President's Day off and two, yes two snow days. We love snow days. They are so much fun. It started snowing at around 11am Thursday and kept going (without stopping) until early Friday morning. Luckily it was a light snow and because it had a low water content once it was plowed it melted off the road quickly. (The school didn't know that would happen though, hence the additional snow day).

Front Yard

I shoveled the path to the door and a third of the driveway before our neighbor across the street came over with is snow blower. Awesome neighbor!! 

Now before you get to thinking I have a lousy husband, you should know that I snuck out and started shoveling without him knowing. I am so tired of being couped up indoors that even if it means I have to shovel snow to get outside then I will. (Going grocery shopping doesn't count for "getting outdoors.")

Backyard

On Saturday the sun came out and Little Bird actually asked to go out in the snow...she too is suffering from cabin fever and was getting desperate. She lasted about as long as it takes to get her dressed up in her snow gear. Maybe next year she'll think it's fun.

 

I was out there with Lizard before daddy and I switched places, but I don't have a photo to prove it.

 

Are You Looking at Me?

Who wouldn't be intimidated by a toddler wielding a plastic sword and wearing a sequined Santa hat?

Jam...it's jam.

I bought this in 2011 on clearance at Old Navy. It was $5 and I had a 30% off coupon. For that price I figured I would get it for dress up. It is the same size as her cupcake costume so she didn't need it for Halloween.

The Chief

The Chief is a wide eyed boy as you can see. He enjoys exploring his surroundings.

You know how sometimes when you take a picture the camera catches a person mid-blink and they look either really tired or "under the influence?" That didn't happen in this case, I am just really tired. :)

The poor guy has eczema and his head itches so bad. I cut his nails all the time but I have a hard time keeping up. Both he and Little Bird having skin problems once it got cold. Being stuck in a heated house all day long every day can be rough on sensitive skin. 

Lizard sucked on her two middle fingers and Little Bird is a thumb sucker (both of them only when they're sleeping) and so far The Chief is favoring his index finger.

A Great Time of Year to Use the Oven

Well, it's still cold here. We did have a heat wave and hit the 40's, but that was short lived. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for the warmer days and look forward to more, but until they're here to stay, I will be baking. 

Chocolate Covered Macaroon

Hubby and I both LOVE coconut. I could have eaten ten of these...at least.

S'mores Cheesecake

King Cake

I have a friend out here from Louisiana and she told me about king cakes during Mardigras. It's a brioche type dough that you can fill with a cinnamon or fruit filling. I filled it with cream cheese, cinnamon and brown sugar. It's a little like a giant cinnamon roll. You bake it and then hide a little plastic baby inside. Whomever finds the baby gets good luck for a year and has to make the cake next year. Fun! I decided to make one for her family and one for mine, but I used a bean instead of a baby. Lizard accidentally ate our bean and my friend found the bean in her cake. The colored sprinkles stand for something (I can't remember what) and the blue sprinkles should have been purple but I didn't have any purple. I thought it was a yummy dessert and will definitely make it again.

 I had leftover caramel from the truffles I made and wanted to put it to good use. It was a little too sticky and sweet to be ice cream topping so I made a chocolate cake with whipped chocolate ganache frosting and caramel in the middle and a shortbread brownie with caramel in between and a sour cream ganache frosting. Thank goodness for freezers and neighbors who will eat my treats, otherwise I would polish them all off myself.

I made these truffles for hubby's Valentine's Day gift. I found the idea on Pinterest and tweaked it a little. Hubby's favorite cookie are those pink and white circus animals. By grinding them up and turning them into a truffle it makes them "fancy." 

Little Bird Entertains Her Brother

I promise that as soon as I put the camera down I explained to Little Bird that we don't point weapons at people even if they aren't loaded with a Nerf dart. She really doesn't get away with much...

She can count to four, but usually skips one and two to speed things up a bit.

She was really enjoying this activity and it didn't bother her a bit when The Chief was moved to the bed.

The Chief's maiden voyage in the walker went well. Little Bird made sure it was a memorable experience. Ah, what he puts up with. :)

My Little Brother

Little Bird adores her little brother. She tries to pick him up, she is MUCH bigger than him after all, and loves to hold him. She prefers the "choke hold", but I've been helping her with the "under the arm" hold instead. As The Chief grows they are going to have so much fun together...whether he likes it or not!

 Hubby thought it would be a great idea to teach Little Bird to "honk" people's noses. It was a splendid idea until she tried honking his nose for five minutes. He only has himself to blame.

"See, see, see." When I was a kid we did not have to walk to school in the snow up hill both ways, but we did have to wait for film to be developed before seeing a picture. It's hard to take a photo of a child who keeps trying to see the other side of the camera after every shot...however, it is nice to know you got a good shot before you waste your money getting double prints of a bunch of lousy pictures.

By the way, did you see that momentary look of terror in The Chief's eyes when he looked at the camera? He seems to be saying, "Save me!"

Valentine's Day Gift Boxes

When I think of Christmas I think cookies, and when I think of Valentine's Day I think chocolates. I wanted to make the four women I visit teach* something special so I decided to go with chocolates.

*Visiting Teaching is a program in my church where we are assigned specific women to visit each month (sometimes you might visit the same women for years and other times it might be just for a few months). It is a wonderful program that gives us the chance to become friends with women we might not otherwise get to know, and it also helps us to better care for each other. I know I can call on the women who visit me if I need anything.

You know how on a lot of the cooking blogs they take a picture of the ingredients you will be needing? Well, this is what it looks like when you are making two kinds of chocolates and two kinds of fudge at the same time. I made the caramel ahead of time otherwise there would be even more ingredients. :)

 I made these boxes using an origami fold. The Japanese are so cool!!

I wish I had taken a photo of the inside of the boxes empty because I lined them with different colored paper.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cups (Pintrest Recipe)

Salted Caramel Chocolates

Butterscotch Fudge with Pretzels and Rolos (Pintrest Recipe)

There's no photo of the chocolate fudge up close because it wasn't that great. I'll be trying a different recipe next time.

I just barely joined Pintrest about three weeks ago because I was tired of not being able to search the site. Now it's something to do while feeding The Chief.