Egg Poppers

Ok, I don't know about you but the mornings always seem to be such a rush on school days. I am fine when it is just me getting ready in the AM but as soon as everyone else in the house wakes up I feel very overwhelmed and feel like I run around like a crazy person. My weakness is staying organized, so with that being said I work extra hard at staying organized. I always have people compliment me on being so organized and "I can't believe how together you always seem". When this is said my husband and I just look at each other and laugh because he knows I struggle daily to stay organized. I know when we are organized everyone feels better and of course I feel better because I'm not stressing everyone out. But since the mornings are always rushed because I am either working out in the AM or getting everyone up and ready to focus for the day my breakfast is the one thing that gets missed. I am not referring to my coffee oh no! I am referring to wholesome and healthy breakfast that will help me stay in shape and give me the energy that I need to start the day. Sometimes I grab breakfast bars or something but then I came across this recipe for egg poppers and I wanted to make my own version. So this is what I did.

Egg Poppers:

6-8 whole eggs or 10 egg whites

Lots of veggies- onions chopped, zucchini squash chopped, mushrooms, and a bit of sharp cheddar cheese.

Mix it all together and put it in a muffin tin. Mine used about 8 big muffins.

Bake 350 degrees for 15-20min until the middle is firm.

So with these made I think I won't be forgetting my self in the AM. I can grab one or two of these with my coffee and off to work I can go. I am so excited to try these in the morning to see how my plan will work. Have a great weekend everyone and try to stay organized!

July 4th

I have already started to decorate my house for this important and special day. I have seen a few websites lately and in the mall that are all dec'd out and it has really gotten me in the festive mood. I am inviting some neighbors over on the 5th for a backyard BBQ so that should be fun and festive too! I can't wait I just love throwing parties! I promised myself just a few decorations and just focus more on the company, food and fun.

This is a little decoration I made for the grill. It is a red mason jar from Kirklands ($2.99) some pinwheels and an American flag from Target ($1.00/set) and the fireworks are actually put together from a paper straw, one in blue and one in red and then a cupcake pick (Target). 

This is the wreath from the front door I have for a couple of years now and happily put it up on Memorial day and for July 4th celebrations.

To along with my other mason jar I made this cute little decoration. I have two of them by the TV and they are just glass jars that usually hold a candle. I replaced the candle with the crunchy easter grass in white and then added the same pinwheels, flags and sparklers. I like how they are all similar around the house and it makes everything look very coordinated.

Other door same wreath.

I can't wait to get the dinning room table scape done and that is going to be cute. I have so many mason jar glasses in my house that I could just use them and just figure out a cute decoration for the handle or something. Another idea is what to do for the napkins and the napkin rings? Hummmmm my wheels are spinning now. Have fun decorating for the 4th!

Garden month 2

Ok, so I know I have been bad about updating you about the garden because it has been quite a bit of work. It was part of my bday present to have a raised garden bed built and then filled with a compost and manure mixture that I wanted. My plants were getting so big that I knew if I didn't get them in the soil soon that there might be no hope left for them because they were getting a little pitiful looking. But now I planned them all in this nutritious soil and they are just taking off now. I can't wait to see them produce some veggies now. I have also started to plant some eggplant seeds in little pots so hopefully they will take off soon and be ready for the summer.

Here are the pepper plants. I hope these grow some more before the summer heat really hits here because I am not sure they will really survive that heat. They are a mix of the yellow and red peppers. I picked this particular kind to plant because those pretty colorful peppers seem to be so expensive in the store that I thought why bother if I can grow it myself.

So the girls are so excited to start picking those tomatoes and I hope they ripen soon so the girls don't pick them too soon.

Here is one of my tomato plants. I actually bought this when it was small and it has probably doubled in size so far, but I am sad to admit this is not one of my seedling babies. I have 3 other ones in the garden that I have grown from seed and doing quite well they just don't have any tomatoes on them yet to show off.

This is one of my cucumber plants that is doing wonderful and has so many flowers blooming on it that will hopefully bloom into cucumbers soon.

This is actually two of the basil plants that I put in the garden so hopefully they will really grow into a huge plant because we have eating so much of the caprese salad that we need big

Beach time

New Smyrna Beach Trip- This was our first of many beach trips this summer! We just love the sand, sun, and relaxing in the water good time! The kids are just so easy now to pack up and head to the beach so I can tell I'm going to be heading there a lot this summer. I have a beach bag packed at all times and so I'm planning on going at least one day a week. Some things I pack for a day at the beach are beach towels for each person, a medium size cooler on wheels, an umbrella with the screw in sand holder, and a change of clothes for everyone- except me. I don't mind staying in semi wet clothes. In the cooler I throw in some sandwiches, fruit, lots of water, and chips. The little kids each have a bucket with their sand toys in it and everyone pitches in and helps walk to the beach and then we are set for the sunshine!

Hope everyone has a great summer and I will post pics soon of some day trips we are planning here in Fl.

Teacher gift

This school year has come to an end. It is always bitter sweet. They have all grown so much and learned a whole year worth of material and I feel like they just up too fast. Every year it does seem to get a little easier with the homework, the chores, and the day to day running around, but again that is bitter sweet too because I just love the craziness! (believe it or not)

Anyways, this the teacher gift that I made for my first graders teacher this year and it had a movie gift card in the card holder. It was so much fun making this for her and I love using the chalkboard.

Such an exciting time of year! It is always full of games, parties, gifts, some tears, new beginnings and welcoming that summertime fun! Can't wait for the summer to begin!

Rainbow cake

I made this yummy vanilla cake for my Dad's birthday. All of my siblings were getting together to surprise him for his 70th bday so I thought I would bake a cake but I wanted to add a little bit of prettiness to it so I added some food color to some of the batter. You can find how I assembled it here. It was so much fun to make and I put a yummy strawberry frosting on it with some big yummy fresh strawberries. It was so pretty and I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Sorry. :( There is always next time.

So this is what it looks like after you place the plain batter on the colored batter. Then just bake like the directions. 

Here is a picture of my sweet dad on his 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Dad. He is with my mom and children and my nephew is the other blonde little boy in the picture. 

Blueberry Pickin'

We had the best time picking these blueberries. Believe it or not we were in the rain while we picked them. Thank goodness the rain did not last very long but Sebastian was soaked. It was so cute because I was in charge of holding the umbrella over my two princesses while they picked the berries so they would stay dry. But of course my son, the boy that he is, did not want a silly umbrella so off he went to adventure out and pick the very best berries. It was so much fun! I have never been fresh picking of any sort of fruit and so many people can not believe this. I guess I have been missing this from my life! ha ha. Well it was so refreshing to be picking fresh berries that were just right off the bush. I was so happy when the kids were so excited too. I have always said I am a country girl stuck in the city and this just proves it. I need a farm with lots of acres. Maybe a girl can dream right!

Look at all of these blueberries! There are 6lbs in this bucket. We have so many recipes to start looking up so we can use up all these blueberries. The first one on the list is a smoothie. Here is the recipe. 

Blueberry Smoothie:

1 C fresh blueberries

1 whole banana

1 cup Vanilla Almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 ice cubes

Then just blend it all together in a blender and it will make about 3 smoothies. Enjoy! 

Garden week 2

So the seedlings are coming along really nice and we finally cleared an area in the yard for the raised bed. I had to do quite a bit of research about where the best place to put the garden and I read that it is where the sun hits it for about 8 hrs. So we found a nice rectangle on the side of the house and that is where we are going to put it. Now I just have to go buy the materials for the bed and start building. I did put some of the herbs in pots yesterday and a few of the tomato plants too because I didn't want them to feel cramped. When we transplanted them they still had the egg shell so we broke the shell into pieces and placed it in the soil. I figured it would give them some good vitamins in the soil. Then we carefully placed the small plants in pot. The roots looked so good and strong so hopefully this Florida sun won't be too much for them. I have to water them all the time and the sunflowers are really getting big and their soil drys up quickly. I think they are almost ready for the big garden. But for now they are stuck on the porch.

Garden

This year I really want to plant and grow my own vegetables. In our new house our backyard isn't huge but it is big enough to have a garden that will be a pretty good size. So I have been doing lots of research about what to plant and what season to plant them in because in Florida the heat can be so intense for small plants that some will not survive like they would in a northern area. I am also going to build a 16ft. X 8ft. garden box so I can make sure it gets the right amount of water and the proper soil for our veggies. I just can't wait for the kids to be able to pick the veggies for dinner right here in our backyard. I am so excited just thinking about this. My mom used to do that for me. When I was little I lived in PA and my mom had this huge garden on the hill on the side yard and let me tell you we were outside everyday weeding, watering, picking and planting and I remember those days so fondly. Some of the things she grew I loved and some I didn't but that's okay because you know it came from our own yard. It is so funny how trends come back in full circle because I remember in my early 20's telling my mom- why do you have a garden just go to the store and it is so cheap, but now I understand so much more and I don't want all those unknown chemicals going on my food for my family. I figured if I have my own garden I have so much more control over what we are putting into our body.

Here is how I am getting started on planting our garden. First,  I saved some eggshells and washed them out and that is what we are going to grow our seedlings in. 

Here are some pictures of the plants right after I planted the seeds. I also saved the popsicle sticks and broke them in half and wrote down what was planted in each container. Now I used 2 different containers to put them in. I used one that is biodegradable and the other one is plastic so I will have to pull the shell out and just plant it right in the ground when the big garden is ready. My plan is to grow the seedlings and then by the time they are ready to go in the garden the garden box will be ready. (I hope my plan works). 

I will keep you posted on the garden update as soon as more happens. Right now it's like watching an egg hatch- not much happens! 

HAPPY GARDENING!

Bird Feeders

I don't know about you but I just love Spring time. I love the colors, the flowers in bloom, the weather is refreshing, the clothes are cooler..... I could go on and on about this wonderful time of year. Well one of our spring crafts that I did with my daughter's Girl Scout troop was to make bird feeders. They were learning about how to make the world a better place and I thought helping the animals was such a great idea and we used toilet paper rolls so we recycled too.

So here it is. It is so simple to make just get a toilet paper roll and spread peanut butter all over it and then roll it with bird seed just put a pretty ribbon through the tube and hang on a tree. We hung them up in the front and back yard and the girls have just loved to see if the birds are coming. I think we might get a few squirrels too, but that's ok. 

I have so many spring projects going on in my house right now I think my head is going to explode with excitement. I just can't wait to get them all done and up in the house! 

HAPPY CRAFTING AND HAPPY SPRING!

Easter cookie baskets

I know this is a late post but I tell ya the days just keep flying by, but anyways here is a treat that we made this Easter weekend. It can be either a birds nest or an Easter basket. We went with the birds nest because it needed less candy to assemble. Also, in the basket you need grass and it needed coconut that is dyed but my children do not like coconut flakes so that was a no brainer in our house. Then you just add a string of candy like Twizzlers for the handle and you have a basket. But don't forget to add holes where you want to add the handle as soon as you take it out of the oven because it will too hard to put in later. But they were super cute and easy to make. The kids loved decorating their own nests and then we shared them with family at Easter brunch.

Aren't they darling!

 All you do is get the cookie dough that is precut in squares

and place them in a mini muffin tin. Then put your thumb in the middle of the dough and spread gently a little of the dough up the sides. Bake at the temperature on the package. Mine was 350 for 13-15 min. I kept checking on mine because I didn't want them to burn. They raise up really nice in the oven too but when you take them out just let them cool for about 20 min and you will see the middle will settle back down and make a really nice whole for the nest or basket.

                          Here are some of the treats we used- bunny marshmallows and jelly beans.

The kids had such a fun time decorating the nests. I put the icing in the middle only because I didn't want them to fight over it or have any more messes to clean up. 

Here is the icing I used. I picked this up at the store for another occasion and didn't need it so I was excited to try it for this one. I mixed it with cotton candy and was it YUMMY!!!!! I looked like a little kid because when they were decorating I was licking the spoon. I just couldn't help myself. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.