Malted Pretzel Crunch

This took about five minutes to assemble and we already ate half of it tonight at the homecoming football game. It is definitely a Pinterest win. I changed the recipe I found so I feel free to share the version below:

1 16 oz bag of mini pretzels, crushed

12 tablespoons instant milk powder

2/3 cup malted milk powder

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt (I thought this was too much - I'll decrease it to 2 teaspoons next time) 

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together, then  pour 3 sticks + 4 tablespoons melted butter over the pretzel mixture. 

Bake at 350 on a jelly roll pan for about 10-12 minutes, til foamy and golden brown. Pour out onto foil and let cool; break into pieces. 

sister weekend

 

 

Snapshots from our sister weekend. . .

 

my sister-in-law Marlys and I threw a little "thank you" party for

my two youngest sisters, Abbie and Elizabeth

 

They are continually babysitting, cleaning, stopping by to help, endlessly cheerful

and just plain unselfish.  Last year we all took them out to Biaggi's-

 

this year we had dinner here and then spent the next day shopping

 

we sent invitations with menus from Francesca's (local Italian restaurant) and instructions to order

 

so fun to be together.

 

I kicked Daniel and the kids out  of the house for the weekend *wink wink* and made the kids bedrooms into little retreat - rooms (in other words, piled all the toys in the closets)

It was so much fun.

 

When Lydia got here we ran to the library and raided it for every girl - book imaginable to have sitting out 

 

Seventeen Guide to Style

What not to Wear

1001 Questions to ask Before You Get Married

Bakerella

Picnic Foods

 

we started out with pedicures from the last salon open in town.

 

 

it's kinda fun to set a table for adults ;)

my beautiful youngest sister- Elizabeth

Abbie and Mom

our authentic italian arriving via our authentic italian delivery guy (ha ha!)

salads

menu:
all kinds of pizza & pasta
greens with fresh tomatoes, feta & bacon
sparkling water via Trader Joe's (&Lydia)

shopping till we (almost dropped)


we missed one of my sisters.

she couldn't make it.

here's why:

(welcome to the world, my sweet newest lil nephew, zacharias thaine)

Frosties & Freeeeeeeedom!!!

Well I turned thirty-one on Tuesday and we finished school.

Guess which event made me happier? ? ?

Oh yes I have half of my life back!!!

(Just half.)

I have not been on Pinterest in . . . months?

And my poor blog. . . so neglected. . .

my poor cupboards. . .

my poor flowers. . .

the garden. . .

ahhhhhh I cannot believe the weight lifted off! 

The kids feel a similar joy.

Wednesday morning found Cambria paging through her finished books, I think just so that she could put them down and walk away.  wink wink

I wandered upstairs with my camera to see what Jacob was up to.  He had MercyMe in his little cd player filling the room with This Life  and here is what I found:

 
I am so happy for him to be able to just kick back and relax.  He has worked so stinkin hard this year; he's earned his summer vacation.

Um, hi Mom?!  I was just sitting in the Little People toy basket looking bald and cute. . . is that ok?!


And we had pop-tarts for breakfast. . .  oh the joy.  :) 

I have a whole stack of books to read and my family bought me enough birthday coffee to last until July so my mornings are planned until August.

I'm halfway through

The Wisdom of Tenderness -Brennan Manning

just finished

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness -Tim Keller

and ready to go:

The Checklist Manifesto -Atul Gawande

Look Again -Lisa Scottoline

Try Fear  -James Scott Bell

Seven -Jen Hatmaker



This overly cheery post brought to you by an overly cheery me. 

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I should probably go to the Y and burn off some of my a) happy energy and b) homemade chocolate ice cream. (made by Daniel, recipe below.)


Wendy's Copycat Chocolate Frosty

1/2 gallon chocolate milk
8 oz Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix in large bowl, pour into ice cream freezer and freeze per manufacturer instructions. 

Tastes just like Wendy's!

march madness

In celebration of the beginning of  NCAA craziness, we made some caramel corn and painstakingly filled our brackets out,  with our decision-making relying heavily on people we liked in certain geographical areas.

[You know what they say, the sports nuts don't win these, the novices do.  Last year Cambria won our family bracket challenge.  I'm not sure what that says about us, but it is what it is.]

In the spirit of being random, we chose one game to watch, Mizzou & Colorado State, and it was a nailbiter since JD and I both had Missouri winning.  They lost. Oh well. 

Fun times with my boy. 

Peppermint Popcorn

My morning started out with this shocker when Jacob prayed at breakfast that we would

(get this)

find it urgent to be kind and generous with each other

I had a hard time not laughing out loud.

Urgent?

An hour later he must have also felt that it was urgent to call Cambria a bossycat.

What is a bossycat, anyway?

Oh the queries of motherhood.

Jacob's penchant for using big words is one of our main bonding points.  The only thing that we seem to share in common is a love for the English language and reading.  Other than that he is a clone of his daddy.

Anyway. . .

We made this salad last week and it was sooo good.  I served it in taco shell bowls with that Cafe Rio chicken that is all over Pinterest.  Pretty delish.

I love red cabbage in salads.  I seasoned the cabbage in this one with a little red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and cumin powder and let it sit on the counter to wilt a little while I prepared everything else.

 

 

Hypothetically speaking, if you eat healthy, then salad cancels out all of the calories in this peppermint popcorn stuff that I discovered at Deeann's Pinterest party.  (Have I already mentioned Pinterest twice in one post? oh dear)  She says it's not original with her, but I'm giving her the credit anyway. :)

 

Peppermint Popcorn

 

3 bags of light butter microwave popcorn, popped

1 lb. white chocolate, melted

handful of candy canes (I used 10 large ones) pulverized in blender

 

Pour white chocolate over popcorn, stir to coat.  Sprinkle with candy cane "sugar" and pour out onto parchment paper to cool and harden.   

 

It's a great way to use up all of the leftover candy canes from Christmas.

 

It's also a great way to sabotage your diet.  I've made three batches in the last two weeks cuz it keeps disappearing. :)

attempted sunday restfulness

 Ahhh. . . . Sunday afternoons.

I love them.  If Daniel is home I usually escape to the library and lose myself in the labyrinth of books and hushed voices.  (What are hushed voices?  I don't hear those very often.)

Today is a Sunday afternoon sans Daniel so  I gotta create my own respite.  I poured myself some coffee and even though my screen keeps getting covered up every two minutes by the American Girl Doll catalogue {"Mom, look at this one.  This is the one that has a tipi."}  I'm hoping to log some moments and quotes from the week that I don't want to forget. 

For Cambria, each day begins with the crisis of what to wear.  On Tuesday, I heard her muttering to herself as she stuffed something back in her drawer, "Well, can't wear that cuz Clare's gonna be there."  I never did find out why that mattered, but a bigger problem was her choice of outfit for gym class on Friday.  Polka dot dress + Cambria - leggings or bloomers + tumbling + exasperated, judgemental glances at me from the instructors = bad mom moment for the week.

JD is always thinking deeply.  It is disturbing sometimes, especially to someone like me who doesn't tend to take life too seriously.  Yesterday:  "Dad,  I have just been wondering this.  Does Satan smoke?"  I laughed out loud which didn't help Daniel respond with the gravity the question required, I'm sure. 

Other thoughts from Jacob:

"Is there a word made with only vowels?  No, I don't mean "I" and "A", I mean with several vowels, Mom."

*standing on stairway after being tucked in for the night* "Mom.  Hi.  Do anteaters eat ants?  That question has just been sitting in my head."

To Cambria:  "Be careful when you swim in Hawaii.  I've heard there are killer whales there." 

He delights in keeping tabs on current events, news and weather, and then name dropping.  This is hilarious to me because he usually gets something wrong.  Cases in point:  Justin Biever, Nitt Romney and Moot Gingrich are a few recent goof-ups.

Today, riding the wave of my praise for good behavior, he tried for some further brownie points:  "Mom, I don't really enjoy watching videos anymore.  I just like playing with craft popsicle sticks and being creative."  {This smacks of the smashingly popular "Homeschool Ryan Gosling" to me.}

 Cambria is reaching for one of these little yummies;  I made them yesterday for a snow tubing get-together at our local midwest ski lodge  mountain  resort  hill. I think I did something wrong to the caramel, because it was crunchy instead of chewy but other than that they are pretty addictive.

Speaking of Cambria. . . I feel so tested as a mom by her style of learning and her needs right now.  She is so sensitive and if not handled correctly and gently, quickly becomes pouty.  She needs so much cuddling and time and love and endless reading of books.  She wants so bad to be with me.  If I start make supper I find myself wincing as I hear the inevitable scccr-scraping of pulling a chair up to the counter. 

Why do I brace myself for it?  I asked Daniel one day as I found myself clenching my teeth while giving instructions to stir and be careful and not to "lick and stick" fingers.  I should be rejoicing to have a little girl who wants to help me and wants to be near me.

There are all sorts of reasons for my exasperation (the main one of course, being sin)  but what it all boils down to for me is my selfish heart.  My friend Wendi wrote about this humanness on Thursday and helped me feel less alone.   I am not the only mamma who feels so inadequate to reach and meet all of these needs.

I  am off to try and win over the unending laundry battle;  then off to surprise my man by showing up at his Financial Peace University class.  [He's been requesting that I come.  I said no.  I said absolutely no.  I said I don't have time for one more Dave Ramsey class.  This week I've been -once again- humbled by my own selfishness and the grace of God in my life.  A tiny bit of unselfishness is not going to hurt me.  So I told the kids I was going to show up at his class today and not to tell Daddy and there might not be childcare for them today so would they be okay playing with the iPad and sitting quietly?  Jacob:  "Oh, sure, Mom.  Actually I have always wanted to sit in on an FPU class."]


*** news flash.  just talked to Daniel and he isn't going.  Grrreat.  That means that I have to come up with another Valentine's Day gift for him. Ha ha ha.  Although I am glad I found out.  Showing up at his class with three children and no Daniel would be an even greater exercise in unselfishness and grace.  ***

Well. . . the laundry hasn't changed plans, it's still patiently waiting for me. 

Pajama Partaa

invitations. . . little sleeping bags. . . *with pillows*


Am I the only person who gets overwhelmed by the amazing parties people have for their children?

The bloggers only make it worse.

Seriously, handmade favors for each child?

Beautiful photography covering each moment?

Never mind the amount of $$$$$$$ spent on exquisite little treats and extras.

I love parties, in fact, I live and breathe them.

However, my imitation Pottery Barn style would probably be scoffed at by the PB designers and I don't have time to create tiny nightgowns made out of vintage sheets (snatched up at antique stores on my free Saturdays). . . although those would make great favors for a pj party.

Our favors were bead necklaces ($2 total) and a bucket of lipglosses ($1). Just call it Hayley-free-embarrassingly-cheap style.

The reason I'm writing this is not to complain about finances, but to point out that really . . . who cares if your parties aren't perfect or you don't have a real fondue pot?  Seriously? Just have fun.

Little people are the absolute easiest guests EVER.

They are thrilled with the ordinary.

So our pj party.

Ordinary mommas  living on regular streets driving regular vehicles wearing J. Crew via Goodwill - - - be inspired.

We colored.

We played beauty shop.  ($1 spray misters filled with water = drenched little heads + tons of fun)

We ate "fondue." Actually Cheez Whiz.  + snow peas + carrot sticks + pretzels + mini hot dogs.

Daniel built us a little fire and we traipsed out in the back yard to roast pink marshmallows. . . {hilarious side note. . . as he instructs 8 little girls to stick their roasters in the fire, he was unprepared for their prompt obedience.  About 8 little marshmallows instantly lit on fire and then 8 little sticks zoomed up and then he's like "oh, oh, oh, don't wave it around!" Definitely new experience. . . fire + firefighter + instruction = normal. Adding 8 little girls at a slumber party = not normal.

Another side note. . . if you take eight little girls outside in the dark, four flashlights are not enough.  I wouldn't have made it if Sarah, one of the moms, hadn't had pity on me and stayed to help.

The girls talked constantly.  Why does this still surprise me?

They also had a very hard time going to sleep. I put on some quiet bluesy jazz for them to drift off with and I guess I didn't know the CD very well because it only intensified the giggles and wiggles. Daniel: "That CD is not working."

We had a midnight snack run, too. . . I looked at the three little girls sitting on chairs in our kitchen, eating by the glow of the water dispenser light on the refigerator and I thought. . . wow. . . I have so looked forward to this stage of life. . . seeing my kids and their friends happy in our home. . . {if this makes no sense to you it is probably because your toddler children never *bit* their friends}

On a whim I grabbed Rhodes frozen cinnamon rolls at WalMart and my breakfasts for overnight guests will never be the same.  They were totally amazing.  I have made homemade rolls since I was eleven. . . but if you can buy the exact same thing for $3 and put it together in two minutes then I say, retire the rolling pin.

It was truly a blast.

It is also true that I drank a ton of coffee the next day.

Pajama Party. . . <---------- here. . .





Remember that great quote "If Mamma says there's a pink elephant on the roof, there's a pink elephant on the roof"?
No?
Your mom didn't say that?



Animals waiting on the porch swing to greet our small guests. . . (note the snake, courtesy of JD)



I went to the library right before the party to check out "Bedtime for Frances" which is ALWAYS there, but of course,
the night I wanted it *really bad* it wasn't.  So we settled for some other cute ones. . .
like "Llama Llama Misses Mamma" (I thought that might come in handy.)



before we were married and Daniel was living here alone, he saw this humongous mirror sticking out of a dumpster behind a hospital where he was waiting after running a call.  He drove back later, off duty, and loaded it into his tiny ranger (I just laugh thinking about it).  That mirror was the most honkingly heavy mirror I have ever seen in my life.  It graced our newlywed dining room for . . . . an embarrassingly long time.  It was like living in a house of mirrors.  Eventually we Daniel cut it up and so we have all of these cool mirrors in our basement. I brought one up and leaned it against the wall for the beauty shop.




My mom gives these little fur families to the kids.  they adore them.  we made them a treehouse home
on a cakeplate next to a plant that I'm desperately trying to keep alive. I thought it added to the decor.



I love to change everything up in my house when we have parties.  I brought a lamp down from upstairs
and pushed the table next to the chalkboard wall to make a buffet. . .
that way I had room to drag in one of the overstuffed chairs from the living room and
create a puzzle-putting-together area in the dining room.



Yes, here is the hidden Wal-Mart advertisement.  They're paying me for this.  *I wish*
Organic cotton pjs $5!!!
The tutu was a birthday gift, but it was only $5 too.
I know because I went and bought one for my niece.
(Sorry Deeann, now I made your gift sound cheap.  Sorry Edith, I also made it sound like I got a very un-sacrificial gift for Kamie.)



Oh my. I can't believe {once upon a time} I told God I wanted to be a mom to just boys.



{*practicing the hostess part* "hi, thank you for coming to my party. here is a necklace for you. . .
Mom, what if everyone wants pink?"}



this is an extremely original game. . . musical necklaces. when you don't have enough little chairs, improvise.

{my fondue assembling assistant the lovely ms Kaylin. . .}



{endless beauty-shop-ness}





this just cracks me up




don't all girls love looking at catalogs and magazines??

 

Breakfast. . . Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls with {pink} frosting



Praline Snack Mix

{from my little sister Lydia}

1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 cups pecans

10 cups Crispix cereal (I use 5 cups of corn chex and 5 cups rice chex)

1 bag mini pretzels

Mix butter, brown sugar and honey in saucepan and melt together. Add pecans and vanilla. Remove from heat and pour over dry ingredients. Spread onto two large greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350. Let cool and break into pieces.

I can't stop eating this stuff!

I better, because David's Bridal just emailed me the notification that my dress is in. Yikes. Serious diet starts tomorrow.