August 29, 2014

UH-MASON TEACHER GIFT!

Posted by Lori~

Mur-Man is off and running on his second year of pre-school.  So far, so good!  Of course, we had to arrive with some A-DOR-ABLE teacher gifts.

Thank you to Smashed Peas and Carrots for providing the free printable here!




Smashed peas stuffed their mason jars with goodies, but I left them empty.  I still think they turned out cute.  These cups were purchased at Wal-Mart for under $5.00/mason cup! 

August 26, 2014

Please think of my cat today.

Posted by Ethne~

Hey guys.  Please say a little prayer for my cat, Theodore.  He's lost quite a bit of weight and I'm waiting for blood test results from the vet today.  It's possible he has developed a thyroid condition, the vet thought, so I hope it's just that...and not something more concerning.


I'll let you know what I find out.  And thanks for your good thoughts. xo

August 25, 2014

DIRT CUPS

Posted by Lori~

Two weekends ago, Ethne and I were together and we were busy preparing for the MOST ADORABLE baby shower ever.  The Pokey Puppy themed shower.  I promise to show photos of the entire spread, but I have one more tutorial for you.

We wanted the food to match the theme.  April whipped up this sign (straight out of the book)....


Dirt cups are perfect (complete with mini fences of course).

Making dirt cups is SUPER EASY!  The supplies needed are:  chocolate pudding, cold milk, Oreo cookies, whipped cream, and worms. 

Combine the pudding with the milk and let is set (around 5 minutes if you use the instant pudding).  Follow the portion size recommended for the milk. 


Stir in one container of whipped cream and roughly 1 cup of crushed Oreo cookies.  You will use roughly 15 cookies/batch of dirt cups.


Of course, this would not be complete without mini fences.  At first I thought I would make my own, but when I found them at Joanne's fabric (plus a 40% off coupon), it was easier to purchase them.  Ethne did the cutting.  We ended up doing four slats/cup. 


All that's left is to fill the cups with the pudding, add the remaining crushed Oreo cookies to the tops and insert your fence and worms. 


They turned out A-DOR-ABLE!



August 21, 2014

I'm Throwing a Kid Birthday Party!

Posted by Ethne~

Hey guys!

So what is your take on kid birthday parties?  I'm hosting my first one this year for the girls.  For a few various reasons they've had kids at their parties before, but never a kid-exclusive party.

I solicited my sister, Whit, and sister-in-law, Heather, to help me out with hosting it.  And I was originally thinking I'd do a party at my house, with a Frozen theme.  The girls loved the theme idea.  But then I got to talking with a few different people and did some Google searching for party destinations in our big city, MN, area, and found lots of good ideas.  Which you pay for, of course.

The two top contenders were Cheap Skate (old school roller rink - pretty reasonable prices) and Zero Gravity Trampoline Park (slightly more expensive, but still not unreasonable) up here in our north suburban area.  The trampoline park won out because I could invite my 4-year-old nephew (age limit is 3 - some places could only do ages 5+ or 7+), the price included pizza, beverages, cupcakes and t-shirts for the guests of honor, and I know my girls will have no problems jumping.  

So I'll let them expend their unbelievable energy for an hour, have snacks and gifts in our private room (which I figure I can decorate with a few Frozen things - Party City has me covered there), and then leave the clean-up for someone else!

For this year, that's the plan...we'll see how it goes over!

August 20, 2014

STRAWBERRY POMS!

Posted by Lori~

This past weekend, I was fortunate to go to Big City, MN and stay with my partner-in-crime Ethne.  Mur-Man and I were there to celebrate our friend Roxanne's baby shower!  The theme was Pokey Puppy and it turned out A-DOR-ABLE!  

I promise to show photos of the entire party very soon, but first-up I wanted to give you a QUICK tutorial on a project that Ethne and I whipped up on the evening prior to the shower.  

Remember, I did a tutorial on how to make tissue poms here.  

But, this is a spin on the traditional poms instead they are strawberry poms.

First up, fold your red tissue paper into a square.  You will want to cut your red tissue paper into the following sizes.

4 - 10 inch squares
4 - 9 inch squares
4 - 8 inch squares
4 - 7 inch squares


Next up, you want to cut the stem.  Fold the green tissue paper into thirds and cut.  Next up, fold it accordion style and cut along all the seams. 


Accordion fold the squares of red tissue paper and round the ends.  Cut a long piece of wire and fold in half.  Wrap the wire around the red tissue paper twisting in-between the pieces.

This version is wrong!  We had our tissue in the wrong order for the shape of a strawberry! 
This version is right!
Fluff your tissue!  There you have it!  A-DOR-ABLE!


August 19, 2014

Hairstyling Tip: the Wet Brush

Posted by Ethne~

Hey guys!  I have a quick hairstyling tip for you today.  

Whit (my sister) and I were out shopping the other day (at Target) and found a hairbrush called Wet Brush.  She said she'd heard about them and thought we ought to have them.  They advertise being able to brush through your hair, wet or dry, with many fewer painful snarls, and less breakage, I assume.  

I do a whole lot of hairstyles each day (at least 3), and the girls will whine to beat the band with each snarl.  I was totally on board with trying this new thing.

Well it works!  Brushes through wet hair like butter (I don't know how it works, as it looks just like any other brush - they said fancy pants bristles), and even in the girls' dry hair it seems to hurt them a lot less and take much less time to brush the snags out in the morning.

So that's today's tip.  Get one.  At less than $10 at Target, you can't go wrong.

August 17, 2014

MEATLESS MONDAY: FRENCH/ITALIAN PASTA!

Posted by Lori~

I remember when I first started dating Steve, I discovered something I didn't like. I didn't like his version of spaghetti.  He would heat up a can of Ragu, boil some noodles, and call it good!  Not good enough for me. I like meat in my spaghetti.  

That is until I went to France. Our host dad Georges was a retired chef. He was an amazing cook that would whip up delicious, tasty, healthy dishes (not all healthy). His roots were Italian, but he grew up in France. He grew up so close to Italy you could see it from his village.

One dish he prepared was a simple pasta dish that I thought I could re-create. And guess what? I did!

It really was good, so good that Steve said I could keep making it.

First up, fry up some onions, mushrooms, olive oil, and garlic in the pan. Fry until the onions are tender.


While your veggies are frying, boil your noodles. Once the noodles are tender, drain the water and add the noodles to your frying pan veggies. Then, dump in a can of drained (not rinsed) italian diced italian tomatoes. Toss with more olive oil, crushed red pepper, and a little more garlic. Keep tossing until everything is hot throughout.


Plate and serve. The next step, is what really makes this dish taste like it did in France. And then, people can pour more olive oil over the noodles as well as fresh parmesan. Encourage this step, because this really makes it delicious!


It's meat-free, healthy, and can be made in under 30 minutes.  ENJOY!

August 15, 2014

PEACH KUCHEN BARS!

Posted by Lori~

One of my all-time favorite things about France was the fresh produce vendors lining the streets.  You could pick-up any fresh piece of fruit at any time.  It was magnificient.   My favorite was the peach.  I don't know about you, but in the US peaches are hit and miss (especially in ND).  Either they are so good the juice is running down your jaw or they are dry, chewy, and gross!  

The peaches in France were all DELICIOUS!

When I returned from France, I purchased a box of peaches from a local church that was having a fundraiser.  These were no ND peaches, they were Washington state peaches.  They were amazing.

One of my favorite desserts growing up, is peach kuchen bars.  Are they healthy?  Of course not!  But, they are OUT OF THIS WORLD!  

Supplies needed:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar (if using canned peaches, reduce sugar to 2/3 cup)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup cream (I used fat free 1/2 and 1/2 and it worked great)
2 egg yolks
6 peaches (sliced with skin removed)

Instructions:
Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and 2 Tbsp sugar (from cup).  Work in margarine until crumbly.


 


Pat into a 9/13 pan.


Put in peach slices and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.





Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.





Mix egg yolk and cream.


 Pour over mixture and bake 30 minutes more.




This dessert is really yummy served a little warm with iced cream or whipped topping! 

I leave today for big city, MN for a WOM-WEEKEND with Ethne!  I cannot wait!  

Plus we are celebrating WOM-MOM follower and friend Roxanne at her baby shower!  I promise to share photos next week!

Have a fab one WOMS!