Valentines Day

So I ran to Kroger after zumba last night and came across thes hilarious candy bars and just had to share them with you. So for my Single friends...

Then For my Maried Friends...

And these are for everyone

The pink one has portion of the proceeds to benefit breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment.

The small print says...

For immediate relief of: Chocolate Cravings, Lovesickness, Exam Pressure, Mild Anxiety and Extreme Hunger. Direction for use: Tear open wrapper, break off desired dosage, and consume. Alternatively massage into the affected area. Repeat dosage as required until finished. If symptoms persist consult your local confectioner.

And here is the back, Turns out these come from New Zealand.

So use to be every V-Day I use to go to Dinner with my brother. But the last few years I've gotten together with my single friends and This year i will probably just treat it as a normal day since it lands on a Tuesday. Do you have a favorite way to spend V-Day or do you just try to ignore it all together?

Books And Mondays

So I thought id share somethings I love.  Fiction books and Mondays.

Now I know a LOT of people hate Mondays But I love them.  They are like fresh starts to a whole new week. Mine begin with a 6:00am work out and i believe that is half the reason i love them.  I always get the biggest smile from Caleb when i pick him up on Mondays. And I get to finish my Day with Zumba and every other Monday it is black light Zumba!

When I searched Mondays this is what I got and I just thought this was too funny!

The Second thing I love is reading, Preferably Fiction. I read rather fast. so i can usually get through a book in a week reading only during nap time. But I'm currently reading an 859 page book. Below is a comparison oh the book and my Bible.

I started it lat Monday so you can see how far I've gotten in about a weeks time.

I wanted to also share the neat thing about this bible. The left columns are King James and the Right ones are NIV.  I find it really handy because when I was growing up I had to memorize in King James but prefer to read NIV.

I also wanted to show you my love of book so i took pictures of my book shelves.

The book shelf on the right is completely fiction and the bottom row on the left is too. The second to the bottom on the left are ll my bible study books and info books.  I put my book in Alphabetical order by author's last names. But i can tell you Ted Dekker is my Favorite of all of them.Oh and I have more books but they are in my iPad so they take up a lot less space!

Here is a list of all my Authors.

Kristin Billerbeck

Ray Blackston

Davis Bunn/Janette Oke (coauthored)

Sandra Byrd

Kaye Dacus

Ted Dekker

Deanne Gist

Robin Jones Gunn

Cathy Marie Hake

Rachel Hauck

Erin Healy

Dee Henderson

Liz Curtis Higgs

Denise Hunter

Hope Lyda

Christopher Paolini

Tracie Peterson/Judith Miller (coauthor)

Kathy Tyers

Susan May Warren

Elizabeth White

Those are just the fiction writers.  But if you have ever wondered about any of them I'd be happy to tell you all about them.  Well I hope you enjoyed your Monday as much as I have.

Fun Snack/Dessert

So Liana is not a big fan of bananas but loves chocolate. So we came up with this easy dessert for the kiddos. I tend to use a paper plate for easy clean up. I then slice up the banana into thin slices and lay them out on the plate. I then use Hershey syrup and pour it in a spiral on the bananas.  Liana loves it and Zachary actually asked for no choclate so who knows they may decide to make it even healthier :)

Do you have a favorite Easy Dessert?

Oh and for all my Single friends

I hope you are 8% !!!

Super hero Capes

So You may have noticed in a few of the pictures the kiddos where Capes. A while back i made the capes for the kids.  While I don't have a step by step of how I made them I still wanted to share them with you.

Alexander's

Zachary's 

And Liana's

Here are a few picks of them wearing them.

Alexander 

Zachary

Liana

Short Post today, Maybe i'll make another one in the future then i can do step by step :)

Happy Saturday!

Party Hats and Batons

So today the kiddos and I made Party Hats and Batons.  I tried to take pictures of each step to share with you! First I will Start with the Hats (Zachary and Liana "helped" make them),

You need...
Party Hats (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
Scrapbook Paper (I had 12X12 but 8 1/2 X 11 would have worked fine)
Pom Pom
Double Stick Tape
Glue Gun
First unhook one hat and lay flat on the back of your scrapbook paper and trace, Then Cut out, you can then use the cut out to trace onto the others.  I trace on and layer the paper and cut 2 or 3 at the same time.

Then put a strip of double stick tape down one side of the hats seam.

Line one side of you scrapbook paper up with the tape and press down.

Then put another strip on the edge of the paper and on the hat. I ended up also ading a line of hot glue down the side to keep it secure.  But if you used This Sticky Tape It would hold a ton better and you could skip the like of hot glue.

Hot glue pom pom to top and there you have it.  I think adding a ribbon around the bottom would make it even cuter.

Here are pics of all 8 hats finished .

Since yesterday Was Zacky's birthday today was Puppies birthday.

Now to the Birthday Parade Batons... (Alexander and Zachary Made These)

You will need...

Paper Towel roll

any kind of paper (we used computer paper)

Hole Punch

double stick Tape or Glue Gun

Gift Wrap Ribbon

Crayons/Stickers (for decorating)

I used the hole punch to make 5 holes.  you could do more or less. I did five because i had only five ribbons. I then double and triple noted the ribbon on to the roll.  I would That is after you tied them on you should turn the notes to the edge so they hand smother.

Tada

I also went a head and wrote their names on the inside so i would have no fighting over who got which one.

I then wrapped a piece of paper around it to see what size i needed and cut off the extra.  I then gave each of the boys a correctly sized piece of paper, crayons and stickers to decorate their paper with. When they finished decorating their papers I pit a long strip of double stick tape down the back of the paper on the long edge. and then a line of hot Glue for the final side after wraping the paper around the roll. Again you can use sticky tape (about $5.00 a roll) and by pass the hot glue.

Here are the finished birthday parade batons

I love hoe different they are and how you can see the boys personality's in each one.

The boys LOVE doing crafts and we do one every time i'm there (at least once a week).  What is something your Kids, Cousins, Nephews, Or kiddos in you life LOVE doing?

A Busy Week

So I thought I'd share with you what a week looks like for me.  So here we go...

Monday

6:00am workout at Solus Training
10:50am Head to pick up Caleb from school, grab McDs and take him home to eat and play.
1:30/1:35 head to pick up Chase
by 3:00 both boys are down for naps till 4:30 then it is snack time
5:00/5:15 Dinner
6:30 Mom is home
7:15 back at solus for Zumba
8:30 home

Tuesday

Sleep in a little then...

10:50am leave to pick up Caleb from school, grab McDs and take him home to eat and play.

1:30/1:35 head to pick up Chase

by 3:00 both boys are down for naps till 4:30 then it is snack time

5:00/5:15 Dinner

6:30 Mom is home

7:15 back at solus for Zumba With Natalie (this link is to her Awesome Blog) and some Tuesdays we stop at Sweet Ce Ce's for frozen yogurt

8:30 home

Wednesdays

6:00am Solus Fitness class

8:30am to 4:30pm i'm at my Second family i work for with thier 4 kids

6:30pm Women's Bible Study

9:00pm Home

Thursdays Change depending the week so this week it is

10:50am Head to pick up Caleb from school, grab McDs and take him home to eat and play.
1:30/1:35 head to pick up Chase
by 3:00 both boys are down for naps till 4:30 then it is snack time
5:00/5:15 Dinner
6:30 Mom is home
and Off to Stampin' Up Club with Diane (I have this the last Thursday of Each month)

Next week Thursday looks like...

8:00-1:00 at second family and then i'm off the rest of the day.

Friday


6:00am workout at Solus Training
10:50am Head to pick up Caleb from school, grab McDs and take him home to eat and play.
1:30/1:35 head to pick up Chase
by 3:00 both boys are down for naps till 4:30 then it is snack time
5:00/5:15 Dinner
6:30 Mom is home
Then Home Some times I have Kim over to watch a movie

Saturday This week I'm off but next week i'll Be with Chase and Caleb 8:30am-4:30pm (this rotates every other week switching with the Thursdays)

Sunday I'm at
9:00am at Church for first service and Then i teach the two year old class
12:00pm Lunch With my parents and Kim
Every other Sunday I have Community Group and I LOVE my group

Pumpkin Bread

So I thought i'd share with you a favorite recipe of mine. It is one I love making in the fall and at Christmas.  I call it Stephanie's Pumpkin Bread because my friend Stephanie shared this recipe with me.

I took pictures of the process and will give the recipe to you at the end. First thing to do is preheat your oven to 325 degrees, Then you mix together the sugar and cinnamon for your pans.  Spray you loaf pans (i used Pam with olive oil) Then coat the pans with sugar/cinnamon mixture (be sure to save some for top).

I pour the sugar down the sides and shake it across the bottom and roll the pan on its side so it gets completely covered. Next in a bowl mix eggs, Water, Oil, Pumpkin, and Vanilla.

This was the first time to use my kitchen aid :) but previous times I've just used a bowl and wooden spoon. Now add sugar, Flour, Baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. (it says to sift the dry ingredients before adding to wet mixture but i never do.) and mix together.

Now pour mixture into your prepared pans. I fill them about 2/3 full, and top with rest of sugar/cinnamon mixture. and bake for one hour and fifteen minutes.

I don't know if you noticed the green bag of mints but that is a int to a future craft i was working on!

                                         

as you can see I've discovered i always have more than i need for just two pans i think you could do 3 pans just fine.  the little ones turned out great too but i could not get them out and had to eat them out of the bowls. I recommend putting them on a cookie sheet so if any spills over while cooking it is easier to clean up.

Here they are fresh from the oven.  I use a toothpick to check if they are done and if it comes out clean your good to go! then let them cool for 5-8 minutes in pan but lay them down side ways. Sorry I forgot to take picture of that step. Then loosen from pan and wrap in saran wrap or press and seal (this traps in the moisture and makes them so delicious!). Let cool then slice and enjoy.

And don't feel bad if you make a huge mess as you can see my recipe is very dirty.  I'm planning to reprint and laminate it.

Stephanie’s Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs beaten

1 cup water

3/4 cup oil

1 can of pumpkin

1 Tbs. vanilla

3 1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

5 tsp. cinnamon

For pan:

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325. mix together sugar and cinnamon (for Pan). spray 2 or 3 loaf pans, then coat with cinnamon and sugar mixture (save some for the top). In a bowl mix eggs, water, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Add sugar. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, soda and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients. Pour into pans. top with remainder of cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake for 1 hour 15 min or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven, let sit for 5-8 minutes in the pan (on its side). Then loosen from the pan and wrap in saran wrap (it traps in the moisture that's why it's so moist ;-)

Let it cool. Slice and enjoy

Do you have a favorite fall recipe?