Mar 30, 2013

Cupcakes

When we were in Utah I read about this cupcake shop that was delicious and it looked so cute, so after the 5.5 hr plane ride (we had a layover) I drove everyone over to this shop. It is called Sweet Tooth Fairy and I read about it on KevinandAmanda.com and since she talks about sweets all the time it was a must try in my book. The cupcake I tried was called the Samoa, just like the Girl Scout cookie and it was yummy! We even met the owner and she was busy taking pics of some of her own cupcakes for her blog. She was really nice and even patiently answered all of Gabbie's questions. Come on questions from a 7 year old can be quite lengthy.
Here are some of the pics from the shop and the inside of the cupcake! YUMMY!





Mar 23, 2013

Ski lessons

My kids just love ski school. I know to some people that sounds very foreign but they do love to go. Well maybe not at first the thought of "school" probably does not sound very fun but here are some tips that we use with our kids to get them to love it. We always tell them that we have all been to ski school. This is true that we have all been there. We also make ski school sound like the best and coolest thing ever. We hype it up and tell them that only big kids get to go to ski school so this builds their confidence and they really feel like a big kid when they are going. Another favorite to use is to sing them a song about going to ski school. It can be silly and fun and it will work. It helps distract them on the walk to ski school and when they walk up to the door they are happy and excited. Also, don't forget to tell them you will look for them on the mountain and you as a parent are so excited to see them ski. This helps entice them to show off their skills for you. This is a picture of my little girls after ski school. See they are both happy and excited and can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Mar 20, 2013

Slow Cooker Meal- Spicy Pork

I am always trying to be a better planner with kids activities, homework, housework, and most importantly meal time. We try and sit down as a family most nights and enjoy this time together so I want everyone to enjoy it. The kids love to help in the kitchen and I try to get them involved as I can and as time will allow. So I made this Spicy pork and we had a Chiptole like dinner. My oldest, the teenager, is in love with this place! Almost every day she asks to go to Chiptole and of course I tell her no. But on this night I thought it would be fun to make our burrito bowls at home. We served the spicy pork, white rice, lettuce, corn and shredded cheese. I really wish I had sour cream on hand because that would have taken the bite out of the spicy. But for the most part this was so much fun and the kids love to assemble their own meal too.



Here is the recipe:
1- 2-3 lb pork shoulder or butt
1- 15 oz can of Chiptole peppers
2- large onions cut in large slices
2- Tb of brown sugar
2- Cans of dark soda on hand (I've used Dr. Pepper or Coke)

Put it all in the slow cooker for about 6 hours and turn the pork about every 2 hrs to make sure all the meat is covered. That is it and enjoy!

Mar 18, 2013

SMASH Monthly March

SMASH on my friends! I am still in love with my SMASH book and having such a fun time with it. You know what I love the most is the fact I don't have to think about it daily. My life is too crazy to be so worried about keeping up with one more thing. I love to preserve the moments and the memories and my monthly SMASH book is just enough for me. I wanted to share a few pics of my updated book. I have still a few pages to gather pictures about but here are a few that are complete.





Mar 16, 2013

Landscaping done

So we just bought a new house and I think I mentioned that the yard was nothing to look at well actually it was all dead and the backyard is bare! But with that being said we had a huge project on the list about getting the front yard to look presentable, so we hired someone and he did a wonderful job. I am so happy with it and the kids love to run outside and roll in the grass now. Before we used to have these sand spurs and ants in the yard so I wouldn't let the kids outside. That was very hard for them because at our other house that is all we did most days was just play outside. Well here are some before and after pics of the yard. We have a long ways to go for the backyard to get done but hopefully this summer we will be able to start on the digging for the pool. I have been making some sketches for the backyard which has been quite fun because I am such a visual person that I have to see everything and then move them around a few times.





Mar 15, 2013

Spring Gardening



I don't know about you, but I am so ready for Spring! I am very lucky to be living in the sunny state of Florida, so I don't have to slush around in the snow and bundle up in multiple layers, but lately it has been cold here. So to get ready for Spring time we start to garden around here. Since we moved into our new house last Fall we have been doing so many projects and the yard of course is one of them. We sodded the front yard and it is looking so wonderful. (I will post pics of the before and after this week). But the backyard we decided to wait on because we want to add a pool, deck, pergola, and a firepit area. I have been making some sketches of what I want the yard to look like and make sure I include an area for my gardens. I really want one day to be able to go out back and just pick all our veggies from the garden. One day that dream may come true! But in the mean time I must be happy and satisfied with a smaller garden that I can manage anyways right now. So we started out with a few already grown plants and I bought a few seeds too. The seeds I am going to put in egg shells to grow and then when they are bigger I will transplant into a bigger pot or the ground. I thought the egg shells in a cute container would be adorable to put out for an Easter decoration too. See I'm accomplishing two things with one project! Love that! Next week we are going on a ski vacation so I have to wait to plant the seeds and the potato bucket when we come back because I don't want them to dry out while we are away.