March 20th, 2012

Trent was still out of town and it was the night for shopping at my consignment sale.  I get to shop on the first night since I volunteer and it’s worth it.  Especially now that the girls are getting older, the clothes in sizes 5T and 6 aren’t as plentiful and you gotta get in there and grab the good stuff.  I had never shopped with both girls before and was nervous they would get bored or worse, beg for me to buy more toys than I was planning.  Thankfully they were fantastic and I was able to get my shopping in and we headed back home for dinner and they wanted to play with their new toys.

Trent and I aren’t huge fans of watermelon, so I rarely buy it since it would go bad with just Sydney and Lauren eating it.  I found a Bambino Watermelon at the store this week and it worked out perfect, Sydney ate most of it in one sitting.  Our watermelon girl!

“New” toys!!

My basket of purchases.  There was also a bag of clothes too.  Check spring consignment sale craziness off the list! 

March 19th, 2012

First day of Spring break and we had big plans.  Trent was out of town for a couple days, so it was just me and the girls to explore St Louis.  It really was the best spring break ever, we had great weather and great adventures.

On Monday the plan was to have a picnic on Art Hill, then go to the Art Museum.  However the Art Museum is closed on Monday, so we went on a walk in Forest Park.

We ended up at the Boat House and the girls had ice cream while watching the ducks.

And lots of flower picking on the way back to the car.

Next up was Manicures and Pedicures at Sweet and Sassy.  This was their bubble bath soap for their pedicures, the girls got to pick their “flavor".”

We then window shopped around the mall and decided to have dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  We were ladies of leisure!

Fantastic day out and about!

March 4th, 2012

So I gave up sweets for Lent.  Some days it’s easy, some days it’s not so easy.  I decided on Sundays I’m going to eat some sort of sweet treat I would rarely allow myself to make or eat.  And with absolutely no guilt.  Trent and I were at a trivia night with friends and one of the girls in our group brought homemade snicker bars for everyone.  They were insanely delicious.  She said she got the recipe from Pinterest and I promptly looked up the recipe the next morning.  There were many, many variations.  Some had butterscotch in them which for some reason my stomach is not a fan, so I ditched those.  Others called for 2 sticks of butter which I thought unnecessary when I’m already combining chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, and a caramel.  I combined a couple recipes into one and the results were delicious. 

This is the second layer, probably the most fun one to make and watch harden.  Making candy bars is fun stuff!  It does have many steps and layers, but the results are worth it.

First layer of chocolate melted with peanut butter with the nougat 2nd layer.

End result with the 3rd layer of caramel and 4th layer of chocolate melted with peanut butter.

I had a family of happy taste testers.

Here’s the recipe:

1st layer:

Combine 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips with 1/2 cup peanut butter. Melt together (I used a double broiler). Spread in a greased 9 x 12 pan and let cool.

2nd layer:

Combine 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of milk, and 1/4 cup of butter. Boil 5 minutes, then add 1/4 cup of peanut butter, 1 1/2 cups of marshmallow cream, and 1 1/2 cups of chopped dry roasted peanuts. Let cool.

3rd layer:

Melt together 40 kraft caramels and 4 tbsp of heavy cream (I used fat free half and half and it was fine)

4th layer is the same as 1st layer.  Let cool and cut into squares.

March 1st, 2012

I am now officially past my least favorite part of the calendar.  I absolutely LOVE spring and love summer even more than that.  Only this year I have this feeling like I almost don’t deserve a spring or have that victorious attitude I survived winter and have earned myself a proper spring.  I gave up sweets for Lent and let me tell you once Easter comes, that chocolate bunny I’m going to dip in peanut butter is going to taste great and feel well warranted.  That’s normally how I feel about Spring.  Also all the spring buzz kill information out there about the bugs being out of control, the bees life cycle is off schedule, the weeds are going to ruin everyone’s lawns, global warming, yadda yadda yadda makes me uneasy.  That kind of feeling like I procrastinated on studying for a big test and now have to cram big time under pressure with a bad grade looming over my head.  I blame these.

Rewind to October.  I decided I needed to man up and for the first time in my entire life, purchase a pair of snow boots.  Last winter was miserable and I recalled shoveling lots of snow in my tennis shoes covering toes I could no longer feel.  I wanted to be able to play in the snow with the kids without my ankles wet and frozen.  My 36 year old self felt it was time to accept and embrace when snow came and even give me a reason to buy shoes.  I found a great pair on sale at Land’s End with free shipping.  Winning!  Well, needless to say, I had absolutely no reason to wear them.  They are virgin snow boots in March.  That’s gotta be rock bottom from a snow boot’s perspective.  I am a superstitious gal and feel like I kinda jinxed winter for North America with my snow boot purchase.  Sorry guys, my bad.

That being said, I’m still excited for March and hopeful for a wonderful spring.  I’m excited for doing gardening again, a cicada free spring/summer, watching the lilacs bloom, cutting and putting said lilacs in vases, flip flops, outdoor dining, smelling fresh cut grass, feeling the sun on a playground, and being outside with my outside loving little girls.  I think I’ll get over the feeling I don’t deserve a spring when I’ve got lots of dirt under my fingernails in our veggie garden and I see Lauren and Sydney climbing our blooming dogwood tree.

 

February 19th, 2012

I really really really have not been making time for my blog lately.  I don’t know where the time goes in my days, but it hasn’t been for my guilty pleasures like watching The View, reading the newspaper the actual day it lands on our yard, catching up on my blogs I read, or posting on my blog.  I am very behind on all those things.  Yesterday I caught up on reading the newspaper.  I now know how the St Patricks Day parade downtown turned out and that we are having an unseasonably warm spring.  I got realistic and deleted all past Views from our dvr.  I apologize to Whoopi for not getting her take on the events of the last month. 

I really think it’s been the warm weather combined with many activities and to do’s, I’ve been out and about more.  Working in the yard and going to the playground have been more important, and rightfully so.  Spring break happened.  My Spring Consignment sale happened. It was a rare occurrence last week when Trent referenced Trayvon Martin and I had no idea what he was talking about.  Normally I’m pretty in the know.  Oh well.

So Valentine’s day was a good one.  Not the kind of Valentine’s day my 22 year old self would dream of, but one my 36.5 year old self felt was a good one.

Seeing snow on the ground seems so surreal.  I think it was our biggest and pretty much only snow.  Very much okay by me.

I helped out with both the girl’s school parties, which I love.

Sydney is lucky, she gets to go to Lauren’s party too and gets to participate in all the fun.  Sydney is pretty much an honorary 1st grader.  She goes to all their parties, field trips, and we go to Lauren’s 2nd recess sometimes and she gets to play with Lauren and her friends.

Valentine’s day night was Sydney’s swim lessons and Trent and I took one of our favorite spin classes at the Y that night from 6-7 pm.  When we all got home these were on our table.  Trent got all his ladies flowers, which were well received.  I can’t even remember what I made for dinner that night.  Normally on Tuesdays I make dinner for Trent and myself while he’s putting the girls to bed.  I think I made a salad of some sort.  Must have been incredibly delicious and oh so memorable.

So that was Valentine’s day in our family.  Seems like FOREVER ago. 

So onto a different subject, Pinterest.  Another guilty pleasure of mine that I have not indulged in for weeks.  Just haven’t made time for it.  But back in February I came across this pin and knew it would be a big hit in Trent’s world.

Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls.  So super easy too!  If you click here there is the step by step with really pretty pictures too.  In fact, through the pin I also became a fan of the blog too and follow it.  That is, when I make the time.

February 11th, 2012

Our community center next to our pool was having a Valentine’s Father/Daughter dinner dance.  Trent double booked himself with 2 dates (well I double booked him when I signed them up, but he agreed!). 

He even sprung for 2 wrist corsages.

Classic Sydney, won’t even put down her blanket when a boy is giving her flowers.

They had a great time and were full of stories upon their return.  While they were gone I put on the PJ pants, watched a movie, and microwaved a Lean Cuisine pizza.  Gotta admit, felt pretty darn decadent. 

February 10th, 2012

All week long at Lauren’s school was theme days to benefit Leukemia.  Monday was pennies for crazy socks and shoes, Tuesday was nickels for crazy hat, Wednesday was dimes for sports shirt, Thursday was quarters for character shirt, and Friday was dollars for 60’s day.

Peace out!

February 9th, 2012

We are getting serious and organized here on all things Valentine’s Day!  I made a batch of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for Trent to take to work (and enough for Trent and the girls to enjoy at home for the week).

  Then the girls worked on their valentines for their friends at school. 

I took a chance and bought Hello Kitty Valentines at Target hoping the girls would agree to give them out.  The girls decided on Hello Kitty Valentines. 

In Sydney’s class the kids just had to sign their name and then each kid was assigned a valentine’s mailbox number, which is what Sydney had to write in the “To” section.  Made the 4 year old valentine addressing so much easier!

Dinner was Chicken Curry with lentils topped with greek yogurt and chives with roasted garlic cauliflower.  Kids were not impressed, but I really liked it.  Good thing, because the leftovers were my lunch for the rest of the week.  Happy Valentine’s Day to me curry style!