Look at this cute turkey!

First, before I write anything else, I apologize for the pictures.  I only had my cell phone with me when the craft was being made.

Who’s got the most creative friend?!?!?!  I do, I do!  My friend Brooke and I hang out all the time, it’s more at my house just because of location.  She comes here, the girls play whatever and we chit chat.  We go there and she has amazing activities planned for the girls.  This is just one of those activities.

I arrive to her house (she lives on an AMAZING 20 acre farm) and she has the girls buckets ready for their adventure!  The first step was for them to go find two pine cones that she hid (of course they were in obvious places).

And they are off to find their pine cones!

This is the base for the turkey, yes I’m captain obvious.

Ella found hers!

If you are a blog junkie of ours, notice she’s wearing her sweater from the consignment sale!

Next, they went and started putting their turkey together.

You need:
pine cone
paper to trace both hands
turkey paint colors
eyes, beak, gizzard cut outs
two orange pipes
hot glue gun

Here is Ella getting her hand painted for the back feathers.

Brooke painted her hand twice.  Once all red and the next time she painted two of her fingers different colors.

Here are the supplies and what the hand prints looked like before she cut them.

She had already had the beak, gizzard and eyes cut out for us.  So, we worked on the feet next.

Here is the foot, you just bend it to make it look like this!

Now, since your hand prints are just about dry cut them out and glue everything on the pine cone. Wahhlaaaaa!  Such a fun and cute craft!

It’s Thanksgiving time and I have a lot to be thankful for. Mainly, my three little monkeys that constantly amuse me (did I mention my hubby is a pretty good catch also?!).

I feel like Thanksgiving is often a rushed holiday… its thrown in there after the huge excitement of Halloween and rushed through so we can all gear up for the Christmas season. I really wanted to get my kids thinking about Thanksgiving and the things they are thankful for.

Here are a couple fun turkey projects to get your family in the Thanksgiving spirit!

Does it get any cuter? I obviously did not influence his answers. They are his own, but we did talk about how we are thankful for all the really important things in life as well.

These were fun projects for the kids and I so enjoyed their cute little personalities as they told me all about the things they love! I did this project with four different kids all 3 or 4 years old. A few of the things I heard about (so love these little guys): swimming, mommy’s and daddy’s, pets, Chuck-E-Cheese, power rangers, friends, little sisters, nintendo wii, cookies, baseball, etc…

All you need is a few different colored feathers cut from construction paper, glue, and a turkey body with its facial features.

For the hand print turkey, just paint each finger a different color, place on the paper in a circular pattern, then have the kids glue on the rest of the turkey cut from construction paper on.

With three boys (6yrs, 3yrs, and 2yrs old) I am not often surprised.  Most of the shenanigans they pull just make me shrug my shoulders and think, “hhhmmm, business as usual.”

I found while talking to my next door neighbor (she has three adorable girls aged 7 and under) and some of my other friends with girls, that the shenanigans my kids are pulling aren’t anywhere near normal or ordinary to her.

Although it isn’t even 3:30pm yet, I thought I would share my three most interesting events of the day.

I am having company over this whole week so I decided to do walk through the house and make sure things were mostly put together.  I got to one of the bedrooms that my two year old and three year old share.  I started to straighten their blankets on their bunk beds and found a couple toys.  By the time I finished making both their beds, this is the toy stash I had found… all in their beds!

The complete stash of toys I found hidden in their beds!

Those little sneaks!  This is one of those times where I am unsure if I should be deeply disappointed in their sneakiness, or secretly proud as sneaking this amount of toys and keeping it all hidden took an enormous amount of planning.  Their bedroom is on the top floor of the house and the toy room is two floors down in the basement.  It must have taken them several trips each to carry all these upstairs in their little hands.

A little later my six year old wanted to color.  Great!  He can color with his brothers (they almost always want to do whatever he does) and I can keep cleaning.  Ten minutes go by and he brings in a fortune teller he has made from paper… remember those!  Yep, the kids are still doing them!  Anyway, he wants me to play and I am more than happy to see what interesting things he has written inside.  Here is what my future foretold!

In case you can't read the six year old writing, this tells me that I will poop my pants in the near future

So later on, the boys have two of their best friends over to play.  I am organizing a little in the office and over hear their conversation.  It went a little something like this,

“You better tell my mom.”
“Why do I have to tell her?”
“You broke it, you should have to tell her.”
“Why can’t you just tell her?”
“Because I didn’t break it, you did.”

At this point my anticipation got the better of me and I decided to see just what had been broken this time (again, with three boys this is really not surprising in the least).  I was very happy to find out that the broken item in question was just a catalog rather than the hanging light fixture (that was broken just a couple months ago from a flying tennis ball).

Anyway,  this is my life.  I hope it brings you a smile.  For me it is just the standard occupational hazard of life with three little monkeys… and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

These dining chairs had gotten pretty grubby, but the chairs are solid so we didn’t want to replace the whole set.  We decide to see how hard it would be to re-upholster them.  As it turned out, this was so easy and cheap to do!

Total time for all 4 chairs: 20 minutes!  Total cost:  $20

The before and after!

All you need to do is measure your chairs so you know how much fabric you need.  You might want to get a little extra in case you make a mistake or want to have some material leftover to make future repairs using the same fabric.  1 yard for every 2 chairs will be plenty!

If you don’t get the Jo-Ann’s Fabric circular, just google “Jo-Ann’s Fabric coupons” to get a 40% off coupon.  Then, go pick out a canvas fabric that you love.

Here is what you do in five quick and easy steps:

Step 1:  Measure your fabric.  Make sure you have enough fabric to cover the enire seat part of the chair with 2 to 3 inches extra around all four sides.  Time saver hint:  Fold your fabric in half when cutting it so that you are cutting the fabric for two chairs at once.

Step 2:  Remove the seat part from the chair

Here are the grubby seats removed and ready to be worked on.

Step 3:  Place your fabric on the floor with the pattern side down and place the chair seat down in the middle of your fabric so that the bottom of the chair is facing up.  You should still be able to see several inches of your fabric from all four sides of your chair.

Step 4:  Fold one side of your fabric over the bottom of the chair seat and use a staple gun to secure the fabric in place.  Repeat for each side.

All fresh, nice, and fun! Ready to be put back on the chair!

Step 5: Replace the seat back on the chair! That’s it, you’re done!  So easy!!!

All done and fabulous!!!

My very creative sister came up with this cute Halloween snack to bring to her daughter’s Kindergarten party.    It is very easy and was a big hit with the kids.  All you need is a package of plastic spiders from the dollar store, some clear plastic cups, and some orange colored jello.  Make the jello as usual and put the spider in so it looks like it is climbing out of the jello before it chills in the refrigerator.Now you have a cute and festive snack that cost almost nothing and took no time to do.

Kids can be so funny… there were a few kids in the class that said they thought the spider went potty in the jello.  Random thoughts of some five and six year old kids!  Gotta love it!

Yes, you got it!  I’m hosting a recipe party at my house and it’s in less than a week.  I got the idea from a dear friend and neighbor of mine that moved to Israel.  You might be wondering what exactly it is and I’m here to tell you!  You just invite a bunch of your girl friends over, they each bring a dish, you make a dish and have some “fun” drinks and let the night begin.

Well, that’s not exactly all it entails, but it’s supposed to be super fun!  Each person emails the host their five favorite recipes before the party, brings one dish of their five sent recipes and shows up for a childless great night!  I made sure to let people know that it’s supposed to be stress free, if they show up in sweats, no one will judge.

I’m still waiting for all of my RSVP’s to see what I am making.  I sent out an evite and asked everyone when they responded to put in the comment section what they were bringing.  That way I can fill the gaps (meaning I make a dessert or main course if no one else is bringing it).

I’m really excited to see what the night brings.  I will take lots of pictures and post some of the delicious recipes!  Yay for girls night — husband and babes are leaving too.  It’s just me and my favorite girl friends.  Excitement is an understatement!

Now, don’t be jeally, go host one of your own!

Now that I’m a SAHM, we need to save in any way possible.  We try to eat out like never.  If we do, we mostly have restaurant dot coms, groupons or living socials.  I also try to save as much money as I can on groceries.

Let me tell you straight up… I’m no extreme couponer, but I do love getting good deals. This week, Harris Teeter will double all of their coupons up to $1.99 (meaning if you have a $1.50 coupon, it is now $3.00 off).

I did my research and clipped out a lot of coupons and printed a lot off coupons dot com.  I honestly hate signing up for subscriptions to get a coupon, it’s not worth it to me for them to fill my inbox and then me finally getting to it months later to unsubscribe.  So, this is my first trip this week.  I think Jamie is going too and I’m excited to see her finds!

Total for all of these groceries = $19.92

I got all of these groceries for $19.92.  Some of the free items were the jello, chips, tic tacs, and the extra gum.  All of these items were on sale at the store, plus I had the coupon.

Some of the great finds:
The two natural bliss creamers were $.29 each.
Dressing was $.14.
Activia was $1 for all three.
Season all was $.29 each

The rest was really good deals, just not crazy good deals like above.  My worst find was the sausage where I still spent $2.50 per sausage, so that is $5.00 of the bill right there.

If you don’t have a Teeter, I see blogs all over that use many of the other grocery stores as well (Publix, Bloom, Kroger, etc).  You can do it!  It takes effort, but you will be so happy you did it when you are all done shopping!

and here it is……

Doesn't this look amazingly awesome?!!

If you love chocolate, this is for YOU!  It is very rich, but oh so mmm mmm good.  I’ve had people ask me if I bought it from the store (I think it’s because of the bundt pan look).  I’ve taken it to a few people’s houses for dessert when they have invited us over to dinner.  It’s not that expensive to make and it’s so delicious.

I got this from all recipes dot com from here.

Here is what you need:

Buy this stuff at the store and you will be in for an awesome treat!!!

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

This is a bundt pan

Here are the directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
• Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

The next important step is to take wax paper and cut it into 4 pieces to put on your platter. This is important for the drizzling step (which you’ll see and understand why in a minute).

I used four pieces of wax paper so that you can easily pull them away.

Once your cake is cooled, turn it over on your platter.  This is my cake after it cooled:

My pretty cake right after it cooled.

The next step is the drizzling!

• Put your chocolate icing (about half of the container) in a zipper bag and push it to one of the bottom corners.
• Microwave it for about 10-15 seconds.
• Cut a really SMALL opening in the bottom corner where you put the icing (remember you can always cut more).
• Drizzle away!

Make sure you cut a VERY small amount.

He is starting to drizzle the cake.

He is just going back and forth and left to right.

Drizzling all most finished. Notice he went back and forth all over the cake.

Pull away your wax paper and….. wahhhlaaaaa!  You’re done!  Doesn’t it look amazing?

Do it, go to store, pick up ingredients, make it, eat it, then run a couple of miles!!

So I love chili… that is really all there is to it for me.  It is getting cold out, especially since that crazy October snow storm, which means I have had chili on my mind!  Unfortunately, my hubby just doesn’t share my enthusiasm for it.

I have been trying to find a recipe that Danny can get excited about to so that when he comes in after work and smells the chili cooking he doesn’t immediately scrunch up his face and say “Chili huh” in his obviously not so thrilled way.I decided that I should try adding different things to it that might make the chili a little more manly… I mean it did work with my spaghetti (he was very happy after I started serving it with huge chunks of sausage).  So I added bacon.  Bacon is so wonderful…  I am pretty sure you could add it to just about anything and it would be great! 

It was great!  It is still chili, but now it’s chili with bacon!  Definitely a manly step up.  I think next time I will also work in the Bacon Salt as an ingredient as well.

I like mine loaded with extra monterey jack cheese and sour cream

White Chicken Chili
1lb Great Northern Beans
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 package of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 medium onions
2 cans green chilies (4oz each)
4 garlic cloves minced
6 cups chicken broth (I like to use fat free)
2 Tb ground cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3 cups shredded monterey Jack Cheese

***Drain and rinse beans.  Add all ingredients including cheese to a crock pot and cook on low for several hours.  Serve with sour cream, shredded monterey jack cheese, and tortilla chips.  Cilantro makes a great garnish also.

Variation:  I sometimes like to dice up some tomatoes and use it as a topping with the cheese, chips, and cilantro.  Yummy!

Don't forget the chips! They are great crumbled over the chili or dipped!

Don’t you just want to take a bite?!?!?!?!

Doesn’t this look so yummy?  My husband always says that you eat with your eyes.

I made this because we had some friends over for Halloween that have two girls that are the same age as ours.  It was our after trick-or-treating dessert!  Yummmmm.  The cool part about this dessert is that Ella really did help me make it!  I got the idea from pillsbury dot com which came from pinterest.

Here is what you need:

cookie dough, chocolate chips, reese pieces, peanut butter, white icing, candy corn and round pizza pan

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Line 12-inch pizza pan with foil; grease foil with shortening. Break cookie dough into 2-inch pieces; arrange evenly in pan. With floured fingers, press to form crust.
• Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until deep golden brown. (I only baked 14 minutes)

The edges should be a little golden brown.

• Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Use foil to lift crust from pan. Carefully remove foil from crust; place crust on serving platter or tray (I didn’t have a serving tray big enough so I left it in the pan).
• Spread peanut butter over crust. Sprinkle with chocolate candies and peanuts.

It doesn’t have to be smoothed perfect because there will be toppings all over it.

Here is Ella sprinkling the toppings on the cake

• In small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Transfer to small resealable food-storage plastic bag. Cut small hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle over cookie pizza.

You’re done!!  It’s so easy, so yum and oh so fun!

She’s proud of her work!

Can’t resist, huh?

I made my husband take the leftovers to work the next day and they were all gone before lunch!