holidays

Payton’s 4th Birthday {Disneyland}

(bear with me as I play catch-up of events)

Payton’s second wish for her fourth birthday was to go to Disneyland. Since daddy was in Austin for her special day, Grandma and I took the kids to the happiest place on earth. We learned last year when taking her Disneyland one week before Christmas it meant chaos and this year was no exception, it was pure chaos! Last year it was raining the morning of and this year it was nearly 80 degrees. Luckily for us, the kids don’t really care if we ride too many rides. All they seem to care about is seeing the princesses, Brayden needs to see Goofy otherwise his two-year-old planet will spontaneously combust, cotton candy, popcorn, a ride on the carousel, maybe even a coast through Ariel’s undersea adventure and finishing off the day with purchases made at The World of Disney is all they truly need. Actually, this is our routine 75% of the time, luckily for us we have passports so it makes it easy when the crowds get the best of us.

We made the most of our December 18th trip and tried doing holiday-type things like decorating sugar cookies at Mickey’s Jamboree. This was the highlight of our trip because Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Mrs. Claus and Santa were all nestled back away from the chaos. The kids could interact as long as they wanted with the characters. We were probably thirty seconds away from being tossed out of the park for Brayden’s stalking skillz (yes with a ‘z’) on Goofy and Pluto. I am sure the human behind the fluff was so annoyed with my kid. Hell, he even parked himself down next to a teenage girl during one of the last hillbilly shows and made himself comfortable. At one point he kept inching closer to her, grabbing her hand and leaning on her arm. This kid has mad skillz (again, with the ‘z’) and he’s only two. It was fun chasing him around, they had fun and I had fun watching them act like crazy ass kids. After the kids, grandma and I consumed way too many sprinkles and icing we exited the park and met my sister’s family to celebrate my nieces 9th birthday and miss p’s 4th. Dinner was chaotic like the park, but more so because my son decided he wanted to enter into his terrible two’s that day. Lord help me and let it pass quickly because I can’t look like “that” mom out in public any longer than I have already endured. Okay, enjoy the picture overload. Payton’s fourth is finally recapped. Now onto planning the fifth birthday.

Brayden already getting to dart because he made contact with Goofy. See the disinterest with Mrs. Clause?

We’re still all good here. Engaged young boy somewhat paying attention to his Grandma’s direction…somewhat…

what else is in there? I’ve already tasted all the sprinkles. I need MORE!

Payton, bless her patient heart. She decorated her cookie, obliged for her photo and stayed put with Grandma to watch the show.

Grandma now decorating Brayden’s $6 cookie.

Plethora of affection for Mickey & his pals.

“holy s*** mom! It’s actually Mickey Mouse!”

Okay, I’ll give him a hug. He seems alright and he sings about hot dogs.

But Goofy is just like me! We’re so cool we blow kisses to one another.

I ran away from my mom and found another girl. Slowly but surely I will work my way over.

we also finally talked mommy into purchasing two balloons, the yellow one is still floating high onto her ceiling 5 weeks later. take that $7 balloon that mommy thought wouldn’t last!

we gave mommy a run for her money today, can’t you tell how worn out she is? but I got an Anna crown so I am good…

Grandma enjoying my craziness and for me giving my mommy a run for her money. payback!!

a picture says a thousands words.

Happy FOURTH birthday, Peanut Butter Pie! I hope this post provides you with many laughs when you’re old enough to understand all of this!

Holiday Tot Party #ChooseSmart #CBias

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting our nearest and dearest for a holiday tot party. When envisioning the party I knew that I wanted each child to be able to decorate home baked cookies, create holiday themed crafts and take home an apron as a party favor. Since most of the kids in our lives take a nap around 1 PM we chose brunch for the food theme and asked each guest to bring their favorite breakfast dish to share. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, and honestly, it’s the way to go when throwing a party. Instead of sending out paper invites I sent out cute holiday evites and let each guest tell me what dish they would prefer to bring. Once I saw what everyone would like to share I made my grocery list for: overnight pumpkin french toast, caprese dip, egg cups, reindeer cookie pops, polar express hot chocolate for the kids and mimosa’s for the adults. Once I had my shopping list in hand the kids and I headed to Smart & Final to gather all the necessary items for a successful holiday party.

My shopping cart prior to child #1 joining spot in the basket.

I had not shopped at Smart & Final for years and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get almost everything off of my shopping list. Plus, they had such a great selection of holiday and wine items that it was easy to check-off stocking stuffers and gifts for neighbors and friends alike.

For any party that I throw I like to check as many items off the list the night before to alleviate any unnecessary stress the day of the party. I was able to prepare the overnight pumpkin french toast (recipe below), hot cocoa marshmallow pops, the sugar and gingerbread cookies and the reindeer (nutter butter) cookie pops. The morning of the party I prepared the egg cups, pulled the french toast out of the refrigerator, assembled the hot cocoa and got it simmering. I also know that most of my friends enjoy pumpkin coffee so I brewed my favorite pumpkin blend and had a mini coffee bar next to the hot cocoa. About forty-five minutes before our guests began to arrive I placed all the items in the oven that needed to be baked. Ten minutes before I turned on holiday music, did a quick switch out of my pj’s and made the final details on the kids table.

We had eighteen children attend. Each place setting had an apron, a plastic Santa or snowman milk bottle, one cookie, a dish of sprinkles and a bag of royal icing. We had extra cookies in the center so each child could take home a gingerbread person and sugar cookie tree.

The brunch spread. We had everything from chile relleno casserole, potato casserole, lemon cakes, fruit, caprese dip, spinach jalapeno dip and egg cups.

The coffee bar. Pumpkin spice coffee, vanilla syrup, chocolate ganache dipped marshmallows and polar express hot cocoa.

Not only are these pops amazing to snack on they are a great addition to a cup of coffee or cocoa. I am even adding them to cookie trays this season.

My friend, Danielle, assembling the meat and cheese platter.

My sister, Lindsay, preparing the caprese dip and slicing a baguette.

These egg cups make an appearance at any get together my girlfriends and I have. I mistakenly forgot the butter, how that came about, I am not sure. I honestly don’t think I have ever placed forgot and butter into the same sentence ever, but it happened.

Popping the bubbly. Tip: When opening a bottle of champagne remove the foil and then take a kitchen towel onto the cork. Slowly pull the cork out, but as the cork is at the top of the bottle hold it there for a few seconds. You will see the bubbly steam seep out. Once a little of this comes out remove the cork and towel. You have now avoided bubbly spraying all over you, the counter and your guests.

Keep the beverages simple. Have options but you don’t need to break the bank. We provided Honest Tea juice pouches, mimosa’s (simply orange juice + Ballatore champagne), coffee, bottled water, hot cocoa and milk.

Favors: While the aprons were labor intensive they were still a hit and a memorable gift to send the kids home with to use for years to come. I also wanted to provide an edible favor so my friends and I made these Nutter Butter reindeer cookie pops. Instead of using popsicle sticks I found adorable holiday chevron craft sticks. Melted chocolate, Nutter Butters, red m&m’s, edible candy eyes and pretzels made for another defined detail.

From ages one to nine each child had a blast decorating their cookies to their liking. Even if mom got in on the decorating action!

We also had a craft table where the kids could decorate jingle bell necklaces and foam ornaments.

Overnight Pumpkin French Toast

Ingredients:

2 loaves First Street French bread, cut into 1″ slices

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 can pumpkin puree

2 TB cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter, melted

Directions:

1. Layer sliced bread in an 11×13 oven safe dish. In a bowl, combine the next five ingredients and mix until combined. Pour egg mixture over the bread and cover. Refridgerate overnight.

2. The next morning remove the casserole and preheat your oven to 375º. In a bowl, combine the pecans, corn syrup, brown sugar and butter. Drizzle the topping over the bread. Bake for 40 minutes or until bubbly and brown. Serve immediately with syrup or by itself.

Are you hosting the holidays? What’s your favorite holiday tradition?

Remember Smart & Final this season as you tackle your holiday shopping lists and stay connected on Facebook & Twitter.

Candy Wreath: Pretty in Peppermint	Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas	Homemade Hostess Christmas Gifts w/ Recipes
Sugar Cone Santa Hats	Homemade Clay Christmas Ornaments	Simple, Cute, Easy Holiday Treat Containers
Sugar Cookie House Decorating Party	Holiday Tot Party

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Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Smart & Final #CBias #SocialFabric

the great mini pumpkin treats

It’s no secret that I love Halloween. Whenever a holiday rolls around I love sending and secretly dropping off cards and a little treat to the children in our lives. Over the weekend I was baking breast cancer awareness ribbons for The Dailey Method donation class and had some leftover dough. I decided it would be cute to bake mini pumpkins for our tricksters. Now, I am not a professional cookie baker. I have tried a few recipes and finally found the best one that works for me, it’s simple to put together and there is no chilling. Like any new recipe you should clearly read all the directions and make sure you have everything on hand. I first made this recipe for Brayden’s mushroom cookies seen here. I probably spent a good hour reading the adventures of sugarbelle blog to ensure I was knowledgeable on the recipe and technique. I cannot urge you to this before beginning. If you want to impress your friends and family with gorgeously iced cookies with a great tasting cookie to boot you must try this recipe.

When I bake I tend to do so in the middle of the night. It’s quiet and I don’t have a certain toddler begging to taste something. My baking time is my zen time. I love perfecting something and with these cookies I think I’ve finally gotten it. I am looking forward to my Christmastime baking, I will finally be able to gift pretty cookies!

Here is how I created my mini pumpkins (ignore that these cell phone pictures, it was nearly 2 am).

watch her videos on royal icing. she even has one on pumpkins and I used the technique to make a dimensional pumpkin. You basically outline and fill the immediately. Once I finished the outer parts of the pumpkins I went back in to finish the middle. I love the way they turned out. The orange of this icing was achieved my taking my leftover red from the mushrooms and mixing in gold gel.

I took cellophane bags and added our favorite chocolate minis to the bags. Tie it off with some ribbon and you will have one impressive treat this holiday. I mailed these along with the Peanuts holiday collection to my nieces and nephew.

Do you do something special for Halloween? If so, what is it?

easter p.2

easter morning started out by us all sleeping in until 8 am. it was nice, we didn’t have to rush off anywhere for a few hours and got to enjoy some family time. payton came out of the room and saw the trail of bunny poop (jelly beans) on the table and then spotted her basket, half eaten cookies and carrots, a personalized letter from the easter bunny and brayden’s first honorary pair of bunny ears. she was more than ecstatic and we think she truly got the concept. after digging through her basket with excitement we went on the egg hunt. she was too adorable for words. jim later thanked me for giving him two beautiful children and being able to relive the holidays through our children’s eyes. after eating chocolate for breakfast we made my grandma’s lemon cake (which ended up being a flop), i baked my easter pie (aka pizza rustica for tuesdays with dorie that was also a flop) and then we were off to my sister’s house for our family brunch. we had another egg hunt for all the kids out front and my nieces and nephew had made payton her own egg hunt in the house upon our arrival. needless to say, we had a lot of egg hunts, chocolate consuming, time with family and a few viewings of HOP. it was a magical day, i am so blessed to have the family i have been given.

showing us how the bunny nibbled on her carrots. our darn dog wasn’t too hungry when i gave her the carrots at midnight.

her 2012 basket: HOP, sunglasses, sandals, jump rope, pink bubbles (crayola great idea but so damn messy!), polka dot chalk, rubber duckies (in honor of auntie jinger & uncle geoff), see’s bunny and other random candies.

“hey! there’s money!”

organizing her loot.

brayden and his ears. no basket for him yet.

letter from the easter bunny

grandma’s cake is supposed to be a sheet cake and it’s supposed to stay in the pan but my genius idea was to stack it and make it look “rustic”. within thirty seconds of snapping this picture the easter landslide began. by the time we were ready for dessert it had sunken and split all over. it still tasted fine, just a funny story. ethan wouldn’t eat it because mimi’s cake isn’t supposed to be “lumpy”.

my mom’s deviled eggs. always a fav. the mustard, the hint of curry. reminds me of my other grandma.

after the third egg hunt.

3/4 of the eggs for the third hunt were filled with money. my mom rallied all the eggs to make sure all the kids got the same amount since ethan found most of them.

easter p.1

we started off our easter weekend on saturday. i had been up all night baking cupcakes for an order and at 8 am we all got ready to go to our church for their family easter service. i took payton to this service last year and it is ideal for children. every kid gets a goodie bag, this year they had hand painted butterflies along with the bags. the service is usually led by the children that attend rbcpc school and it’s interactive. after the quick 45 minute service, they have easter egg hunts for the wee and big ones, a light breakfast, crafts, three bounce houses, a petting zoo and non-easter bunny pics (last year they had a bunny and i was counting on it this year). we quickly took our family photo, ate a few doughnuts (p’s fav) and then she made her way through each bounce house. it was a great morning. after church i delivered the cupcakes, baked sugar cookies with p for the bunny, the kids napped and then we decided to take them to the mall for a last minute photo-op with the bunny because p was begging to see him. she was so excited and even exclaimed, “i’m next hii easter bunny!” then froze as i put brayden on his lap. maybe next year? after the mall we did dinner and then dyed eggs. it was so much better being in our house this year and the fact that two is a lot more fun that one in terms of excitement and understanding what’s going on. she went to bed with the anticipation of the easter bunny visiting after placing out spring cookies and carrots.

waiting for the service to begin.

playing with her butterfly outside.

the family photo, excuse the quality i snapped a pic of it with my phone.

jumping like crazy. a group of four-year-old girls and boys kept screaming and she was yelling back at them to stop. i pray she’s not a loud screaming girl.