April Fools Dinner

This years April Fools Dinner Menu

Ice cream Sundaes (Mash Potatoes in a Sundae dish with Chicken Gravy topping and a Cherry Tomato on top)
Chicken Pot Pies (Vanilla Pudding mixed with Jelly Belly peas and carrots mix, and cubed pound cake as the chicken.  I used butterscotch chips to make molding chocolate for the crust.)
Jello in a cup with a straw for the Drink
Meatloaf Cupcakes

One Smart Cookie

Teacher Gift Idea

I love cake pops and wanted to make some for the kids teachers for an end-of-the year treat.  I used the cookie dough pop recipe from Bakerella.  I Put a few pops in a baggie and attatched a tag that said, "Thanks to you, I'm one smart cookie". 

 

 

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles from Bakerella

You can check her website for step-by-step pictures

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook (Thanks Lindsay!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
chocolate candy coating
popsicle sticks, cut in half (use kitchen scissors to make a clean, smooth cut)

• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
• Mix in milk and vanilla.
• Add flour and salt and mix on low until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Chill dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until firm enough to roll or scoop into 1-inch balls.
• Place rolled balls on a wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. (I had mine in for about an hour so longer is okay, too)
• Melt candy coating following instructions on the package. Remove a couple of balls from the freezer at a time and insert the cut stick into the ball. Dip in candy coating and let any excess fall off back into the bowl.
• Add small sprinkles on top and place on wax paper to set. If the chocolate pools at the bottom of the ball, dot the balls on the wax paper until most of it is pulled off the ball and then place it on a clean spot of the wax paper to set.
• Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.

If decorating like chocolate chip cookies, flatten the balls into patties and freeze for dipping. Insert the stick carefully into the thickness of the patty and dip in melted peanut butter candy coating. Then just sprinkle with more mini chocolate chips before the coating sets.

 

Halloween Costumes

Ok, so its April and I finally getting around to posting the kids Halloween costumes.....so sad.  Anyway, this year was so fun and super easy compared to past (elaborate) Halloweens.

 Bam Bam and Pebbles

 

 50's Car Hop

Felt Table

I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to take on two big projects for Christmas this year, I guess I thought if I started early enough it would be easy.  I decided to make a felt playhouse for the my two little ones for Christmas after seeing them on pinterest.  (my pinterest inspiration)

  Here's my finished Felt Playhouse

Front Door (bottom half of door is a flap and mailbox opens)

Doggy Door Side

(black flap opens up to be a secret enterance)

Backyard with apple tree

  Garden Side

 (my little guy was putting things on faster than I could snap the pictures, hence the carrot dangling in the sky)

Train Table

Chalk board train table with storage.

My kids have been collecting trains for 10 years and every Christmas Santa brings something to add to the collection.  I've been wanting to make a table to store it all for a long time and it finally made it to the top of the "never-ending project list". We (the super amazing hubby and I) drew up plans and redesigned a lot and finally came up with a table big enough to fit all the trains and small enough to fit in the toy room (it turned out to be about 4 x 7 feet with 8 cubbies underneath).  We finished our just in time for Christmas.  It was A LOT bigger project than I had planned.  It turned out great and the kids love the chalk board top.

 One end has pockets to hold an eraser and chalk.

Halloween Dinner Menu with free labels

Here was our menu this year.

The Drinks

Witches Brew - Root Beer in a Witches Cauldron with dry ice

Truth Serum - Water in a glass bottle

Apple Spider - Apple Cider

Main Dishes

Mummies - croissant wrapped hot dogs

Boiled Squid - hot dogs

Vampire Delight - Chili Cheese Tortilla Casserole

Jack-o-Lantern Pizza - Pizza

Sides

Bones - Bread sticks

Goblin Teeth - Corn

Pickled Caterpillars - Baby Pickles

Bat Eyes - Cream Cheese Stuffed Olives

Mummy Fingers - Cocktail Wieners

Spider Eggs - Deviled Eggs

Plasma - Jello

Sweets

Rotten Fruit - Fresh Fruit with Fruit Dip

Mud Pie - Chocolate Pie with Oreo Dirt and Gummy Worms

Petrified Butterflies - Pretzels

Night Crawlers - Gummy Worms

Decomposing Eels - Black Licorice

Spider Webs - Cupcakes with Chocolate Webs

Witches Warts - M&M (if you turn them upside down it makes W&Ws)

Poison Apples - Carmel Apples

Witches Teeth - - Candy Corn

Here are the labels from this year.  (for personal use only)

I love you because...

This was such a cute idea that Sara fell in love with. I made the image in photoshop, printed it then put the image in a frame and every morning I write something new (with a dry erase marker) on the glass of the frame before I wake her up. It's been a good motivator to get her up in the mornings.