Everything Should Sparkle!

It's decorating season again!  That time of year where you decorate, put away, decorate, put away, and decorate again!

 I have a daughter who loves her sparkles, and it inspired me to create a project we could do together and use as decorations for Halloween!

 It started with a bunch of large pine cones, which you can gather from your yard, or purchase from the craft store for $5 (cinnamon smell included!)

 The next step is to mix one bottle of regular glue with equal parts water...

 Choose your sparkle colors...

Roll the pine cones in the glue mixture...you may employ the "ick I don't want to get messy" one finger method as Gigi is doing here...

 And then you get to add the sparkles! 

WARNING!  You will get glitter everywhere despite precautions, so this might be a project for the outdoors! 

 Let them sit for a while to get dry...

 It is suprisingly difficult to capture the gorgeous sparkletasticness of these pine cones with a camera...

 Then it's time to decorate a tree!

 You can use any kind of ribbon or string to hang the pine cones, the really tricky part is reaching the branches!

 It was a VERY simple project...

 But it was super fun!

 And it's an inexpensive way to make your yard look festive!

 Hello FALL!!!

Ugh!...or, I never thought I'd have to say that!

Even before I became a parent I heard the stories...I have two younger sisters and I taught preschool for number of years, I really thought I was well schooled in the ridiculous...

Somehow, there is always more to learn...

Like sitting at an Italian restaurant waiting to be served and not being fast enough to prevent your 3 year old from licking the top of the Parmesan cheese dispenser...

Like turning around and noticing that your 3 years old is licking a rock!

Of course, I'm not a brand new mom, I've fielded toddler teething situations, so while my initial reaction is to yell "don't lick the rock, are you serious?!" mostly I'm amused...more so when she immediately drops the rock but continues on with a piece of grass stuck to her face!

But, how about when you let go of your 3 year old's hand for a second to dig your keys out of your purse, turn to open the door and see your little girl lick the side of the car!  

Ok, ok, I only thought she had licked it, when confronted with my squeal of "Don't lick the car!!!", she sweetly informed me that she only kissed the car!  

I will say that a sweet kiss given innocently to the dirty dusty side of the vehicle is better than what I initially thought had transpired, but still, ewwww!

Oh wait!  Did I forget the morning we were camping and I turned around after getting out of the tent to see this sight?  Who would ever think they would have to say "Don't chew on the tent!"?

I honestly thought we were done with the put everything in our mouth stage, but now it seems like I'm constantly telling her to keep things out of her mouth, and reminding myself to take a deep breath and think of all the germ exposure as immunity building...

And then I tell myself, this stage will pass, look at Noah, he once ate a bug!...ok, he didn't actually eat it, it turns out he just loved it so much he had to give it a kiss...but the point is, he doesn't put strange things in his mouth anymore!...

And then, yesterday, he tells me he ate a leaf!...A Leaf!  So, here are two more things I never thought I'd have to say..."Why did you eat a leaf?" (no clear answer)  "DON'T EAT LEAVES!"

It's the good life; lovin every minute of it!

It's Bran Baby!

What do you think of when you here "bran muffin"?

For most, it probably conjures up descriptive words like bland...healthy...boring...

For me, bran muffins conjure images of my grandmother's kitchen, warm cozy mornings, and tasty breakfasts.

So let me share my grandmother's bran muffin recipe with you and forever change your perception of bran!!

I have no information about the origins of this recipe, but I have is this authentic, hand written recipe card given to me by my grandma Stone many many years ago, and that's good enough for me!

What you'll need:

1 box of All Bran (I've tried other brands before and they fall short)

2 cups of buttermilk (I use the lowfat)

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of margerine

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

2 1/2 cups of flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

 

-preheat the oven to 400 degrees

-Combine 1 cup of boiling water with one cup of bran and set it aside to cool

-cream butter and sugar together, then add the eggs, buttermilk and bran/water combo

-slowly add in your dry ingredients

-Finally, add in 2 1/4 cups of dry bran

Mix it all together until well combined!

Line your muffin tin with muffin cups (or you can just spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray)

And bake for 15-16 minutes!

Gigi has actually dubbed them "bran cupcakes" and she feels like she's getting away with something when she has one for breakfast!

So from now on, don't think of bran muffins as boring and bland, think of them as delicous bran cupcakes, a special breakfast treat!

 

 

 



First This...Then That...

So, this was the week of firsts for Gigi...

First, we tried soccer...

And for the most part, we liked it...

We did shed a tear or two...

But we didn't stay sad...

And we finished strong...

And that led almost directly into our next first...Gigi's first day of preschool!

We started strong the night before with freshly painted sparkly nails....

And we continued strong the next morning with our beautiful first day of school dress...

But we hit a small snag as nerves began to sneak in...

Fortunately, cuddles did the trick, and we were ready for a few more pictures...

and a few more pictures...

And maybe a few more pictures...

ok, ok, just a few more...

When the nerves snuck back in, we decided drawing a heart in the palm of her hand would make her feel better...

And she decided I needed one too, so I wouldn't forget her...

Brief Flashback:  When she was 18 months old or so, Gigi would stare longingly into Noah's preschool room and ask to go in...

Today she asked "Do I actually get to go inside?"



And after that, it was smooth sailing...

and the after school smiles were better than a thousand words...

which means a thousand pictures would be a thousand times better than that, right?!...

ok, maybe not a thousand more pictures...

but they are just so cute...

and...

hmmm...Maybe that was too many pictures after all!