Flowers...

The girls wanted to have a tea party this afternoon.  They got out the candles, the tea cups, and the vase.  They asked if we had any flowers *sigh* I did not.  I have had a thing for fresh flowers lately and will occasionally treat myself to a bouquet if they are on sale.  A few minutes later I hear a loud "Never mind Mom! We got flowers!!" coming from upstairs.  Seriously?  You have a secret garden upstairs that you aren't filling me in on?  It just so happens we do...in our bathroom where I keep our hair "pretties".  LOL  It just so happens that these fabulous hair clips can double as a flower bouquet for your next event.   The girls clipped them to the side of the vase and voila...

You can order them from this fabulous company called Posh Perfect.  The gal that does them has great attention to detail and will do custom orders.  The prices are also great!
Here is a picture of my girls and my sister's girls, they are sporting their Posh Perfect hair clips.

 And at Christmas...

 

Random Messages

In our house, ever since our oldest daughter could write a sentence, you never know what note you may find.  Sometimes it surprises me, sometimes it melts my heart, every time it makes me smile or laugh.  Here is a note from Bunny (C's friend from toddlerhood) I found on my washing machine:

It reads: Can you please wash me. C wants you to Please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this week I went to use the
bathroom and was greeted by a lovely sign and soap options.  Me oh my, did I feel pampered. :)

It reads: Choose any one or choose both, that means mix.  I love the "fine print" at the end...in case you didn't know that if you did in fact choose both that would mean you were getting a mix! lol  She is too much!

 

I also got a VERY sweet note this past Saturday night...C and her sister had gotten into trouble for being rowdy and sent to bed early.  The note I found on my bed said: To: Mom, From: C I will give you a quiet day tomorrow, I promis."  That would be one of those heart melting ones I mentioned earlier. 

A Twist on Pizza...

This is a recipe I acquired at a Pampered Chef party when we were first married.  It was probably the first semi-complex thing I made.  I hope this does not scare anyone from making this because it really isn't that difficult and the taste is worth every ounce of effort!  The recipe came with step by step pictures/instructions and I was grateful!  I love a visual, in fact, I rarely will make a new recipe if I cannot see what the end product is supposed to look like.  I think this is why I love those home cooking shows (which I never seem to find time to watch) and I love cookbooks with pictures. 
So if you are in a pizza mood (it seems I always am) this is very yummy!

Pizza Twist 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1 pkg pepperoni (3.5oz), diced
1 can (3.25 oz) pitted olives, drained & chopped
1 TBS dried parsley (2 TBS fresh)
1 clove garlic
3/4 C mozzarella cheese
2 TBS flour
2 tubes of refrigerated french bread dough
1 egg white
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Parmesan or Romano Cheese
Pizza sauce (for dipping)
*Mix the first six ingredients together:

The flour really helps the pepperoni to not stick together...you may need to separate them with your fingers.

Next you need to unroll your french bread onto a lightly floured surface:

      Cut a 1/2-1 inch slit down the middle of each roll then spread open and dust the inside with flour and add pepperoni mixture.

 Next pinch sides together:

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and put both rolls on the pan ends together:

                  Take one roll and cross over the other, repeating back and forth like a twist ;)

Take your egg white and Italian seasoning  and mix together:

Isn't that little mini-whisk adorable?  I am pretty sure this came in one of my daughter's cooking sets, but I sure have used it a lot lately.  Its the perfect size for small seasoning mix-ups!

Spread the egg white mixture over the entire pizza twist.  You can use a pastry brush or your hands.  Before you put it in the oven you will want to make a few slits in the top and sprinkle with cheese:

Bake for 30 minutes and when you are done:

What do Stay-At-Home-Mom's Do All Day????

I have heard people say things of this nature and while every day isn't this crazy, most of them are!  This is another reason I have such a hard time updating my Facebook status - how do you pick just ONE thing and I find it difficult to resist the urge to "explain" everything. 
So today went a little like this:
Coffee
Feed the children
Read a few verses from Acts
Clean the dishes
Answer the phone
Answer some emails
Marinate chicken for dinner - later
Get meals organized for a family in our church
Make grocery list (I cannot express the amount of mental energy that goes into this process)
Cut/print coupons
Put clean sheets on the guest bed
Do a birthday sign craft with the girls
Get myself ready
Make arrangements to get coats for a family coming in from Singapore
Pick-up coats
Drop off table
Pick-up costume that needs to be returned
Drive to Grand Rapids and drop-off costume
Refrain from road rage
Go to Costco
Pick-up last minute Christmas gifts/groceries
Stand in line for what seemed an eternity
Get gas
Refrain from more road rage on 28th street
Go to Meijer
Come home and unload a mini-sized Meijer store into my cupboards
Start cooking dinner
Make a Boston Cream Pie
Kathryn & Jesse arrive!! :)
Have a fun filled evening catching up with friends
Clean up more dishes
Think for a split second about waking up at 3am to see a red moon...naaaah
This is not an exhaustive list, I did leave out diaper changes, disciplinary chats, cleaning up spilled milk, etc. 

Homemade Sanitizing Wipes

So I had heard of making your own sanitizing wipes, but what really pushed me over the edge to make these was when I discovered you needed to use your electric knife.  That poor electric knife sits in my kitchen drawer all year waiting for Thanksgiving and even then we traditionally go to my grandparent's house - it is indeed a lonely life being an electric knife in my home.   I also happened to stock up on paper towels at Costco the last time we went so I had everything on hand.  Here is what the before looked like:

You just cut the roll (you may need a partial roll, depending on the size of your container), add whatever mix of cleaner you want (some use vinegar for the "greener" option), I personally was only in on this project for the knife. :)  I used water and liquid Lysol, I wanted to use them to disinfect my counters and I like the throw away aspect.  I used Bounty paper towels and they held up amazingly well!  Let the paper towel soak up your liquid and then pull out the inner cardboard tubing...

 

And Voila! Wipes :)

Kindergarten

Christmas vacation has officially begun for Chloe!  Unfortunately, in order to stay on tract, we had to "sneak" in school for Olivia.  If I state it really excitedly like "let's play school!!!!"  The girls are in almost every time.  Of course I try not to overuse that phrase and I was hoping Olivia would not realize that Chloe was in fact officially on "vacation."  Thankfully, Chloe loves school and she didn't mind "playing" with us.  I did Kindergarten at home with both the girls and I really did/do enjoy it.  It was a good experience, but it also makes me thankful that we have a Christian school option. 
So today as we were "playing school" Chloe recognized Olivia's paper and said "OHHHH, I remember that one!"  I didn't think much of it until we were almost done and Olivia was coloring these balls and was in no way making an effort to stay in the lines.  The thought crossed my mind "I wonder what Chloe's paper looked like when she was at this age."  I don't want to come across like it is a competition, but it is incredible to see the different personalities and developments that take place.  So I dug out Chloe's Kindergarten file and found that I did not have that particular page (of course I found the page before and after, but not that ONE).  Murphy's Law.  I did however find the penmanship paper for that day and what I found made me chuckle.  We have recently learned the letter "V" and Olivia does not like to slant her lines.  Can you guess who else did not like to slant??  

 

 It really cracked me up to see their work side by side.  It was good for Olivia too, to see that this big sister of hers (who she feels like she will never catch up with), was at her stage and made the same mistakes.  She was smiling like the Cheshire cat while we looked at her big sisters papers.  It was fun for Chloe to see her progress.  It made me a lot of things...sad that two years has already FLOWN by, happy that I have another six months with Olivia, amazed at how much they learn in one short year, privileged that I can teach my girls to read, ecstatic that I get a three year break before we even have to think about school for Megan, and lastly, longing to freeze time.

Olivia 5 yrs old

Chloe 7 yrs old

Hot Fudge Sauce

Probably my most favorite dessert - - no, by far my favorite dessert is vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce, and depending on the mood a warm gooey brownie is a wonderful addition.
My hubby and I had the benefit of a date night last night.  This involved dinner, Christmas shopping for the girls, and a Christmas concert.  It was a blast.   We ate too much at dinner to indulge in dessert and Eric had just tried on jeans and we were commenting on skinny jeans being all "the rage".  See, Eric is a very tall/lean guy and if he can't pull off skinny jeans - who can?!?!  He took a pair into the fitting room and didn't realize they were the "skinny" fit and he said he couldn't get them over his ankles.   Fast forward to Macy's and I was looking over a sweater (we were supposed to be shopping for the children, I know, I know).  I saw it on the mannequin and thought it looked cute, of course she had some sort of tights/leggings on and I sort of laugh and say "I could NOT get away with those", to which Eric replies "I don't get the waif look."  I said "you're right babe, you don't GET the waif look, you get the plumper version."  After laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes, I make my purchase and we really do finish shopping for the girls - I promise.
Now, on to the reason I can't pull off skinny jeans - Hot Fudge Sauce (see this did have a point after all!) :)....
This is by far the best recipe I've found for hot fudge and the secret wasn't found in the ingredients but in an extra step at the end - beating or blending the sauce!  Perhaps this is no secret to others, but I surely was "enlightened."  My crafty side got the best of me and instead of doing traditional fudge or cookies this year as teacher/neighbor gifts we are doing fudge...sauce.
Here is the recipe:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 (or more for darker choc.) cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Combine butter, cocoa, sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Carefully pour hot mixture into a blender and blend for 2 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately. Store in refrigerator. 
*To make this in a large amount use the following measurements and it almost makes 5 pints: 1.5 cups of the cocoa, 1Tbs vanilla, double everything else and boil for 9-10 minutes.

Ready to go!