thanksgiving treats

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  I'm sitting here on Thanksgiving morning,  sipping my coffee with one of my best friends,  getting enough energy to start cooking for the day.

But I've been happily busy baking all week.  Here are a few of our treats for our special day.

To set the atmosphere,  I made this fall display on the island.  

The pinecone jar was simple to make.  Place some pinecones in a mason jar,  tie with a fall ribbon, and tada!  Instant decoration.  (You could do the same with Christmas ribbon)
Here are my Double Chocolate Chip cookies.  I used a standard Chocolate Chip recipe and doubled the number of chips.....just half of the doubled chips were White Chocolate.....yum!
One of our cutest snacks is the turkey cupcakes.  I just baked the cupcakes,  frosted with chocolate icing and decorated with candy corn, mini chocolate chips, and orange icing for the nose.  The kids loved helping with this!

Here is Zander helping with the pumpkin pie he has been begging for, for two weeks.  I wondered why he wanted pumpkin pie so much,  since we never eat it, and then saw this recipe on Noggin.  So now I know why pumpkin pie seems so exciting!  I hope he enjoys it as much to eat as he has been anticipating. 

We are very thankful to have our friends,  The Nelsons,  with us today.  I hope all of you have a special day!

crafty trees

A few days ago, Zander kept asking me if he could have a tree in his room.  Being the softie I am for his big brown eyes,  and being the fanatic I am over Christmas decorations---I said, "Yes!".

The rest of the house has yet to be decorated (Matt refuses to get them down until after Thanksgiving) but for some reason, the kids' rooms don't always follow the guidelines for the rest of the house (they have brightly colored walls too.....while the rest of the house is the standard factory house-paint color,  still).

Each room has a prelit,  4 foot tree.  It was so fun decorating them with the themes the kids chose.  Kaya's pink tree is decorated with a Winnie-The-Pooh theme.  I found Pooh figurines at the Dollar Tree that I attached the to tree with rubberbands.  I also used Pooh flashcards (I punched a hole in the top and tied with ribbon) and foam Pooh Puzzle pieces.  We added candy canes and silver balls throughout the tree.  For the topper,  I attached a Pooh and Piglet soft ice-pack.

Zander's tree is Car themed.  He is fascinated by it.  The first day he kept sitting in his chair just to stare at it.  Just like his mama,  he loves a Christmas tree.

We used rubberbands to attach the matchbox cars.  I also found a foam puzzle with the Cars movie theme that we hung to the branches.  We finished his his balls and candy canes also.

Do you have any special Christmas tree or decorations you would like to share?  I'd love to hear about them!

We had yet another fun day at The Children's Museum.  This time it was even more fun though because we got to spend the day with Grandpa and Grandma!  (We hope you get well soon, Grandpa)

Of course the biggest excitement was the new Bob the Builder exhibit.  I've already committed to taking the kids back in December.  I need to get my money's worth from my annual pass.
BOB THE BUILDER.....Can we have fun?

BOB THE BUILDER.....Yes we CAN!!!

I’m a little teapot

Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up,
Then I shout,
Just tip me over and pour me out!

short and blonde

Experimenting with my hair is not a new thing.  I've been doing it for years.  I think there has not been a year in the past ten that I kept the same color and cut for a full 12 months.  I keep trying to find what I like the best.

For several years now I would get in a mood to let my hair grow out.  I do for a while and finally get disgusted once it looks like a bird's nest or I start clipping it up in barrettes better suited for a six-year old.  And then I keep going to different stylists asking them to give me a new,  sassier, more updated look.   I usually love my new look for about 2 weeks and then decide it isn't really worth the hassle of blow-drying my hair straight or adding 4-5 products to upkeep this new look.  (I have very course hair which is wavy and wild when not tamed). 

And color.  Oh the colors I have adorned!  I truly am not sure there is one I haven't experimented with.  It used to be so bad that every time I went back home my cousin Jeff and friend Willy would usually look me over and say,  "Well, what color is it this time?"  I know they won't be disappointed that I've gone back one of my boldest (and most unnatural) colors.

I think I've been in the mindset that as a mom I should have natural-looking,  flowing hair.  That I would be that cute little mom pushing my stroller with my hair blowing back in the breeze.   So put together with my beautiful children.   But I'm not that perfect little mom....

So I decided to go back to my short and blonde look.  I've tried to go this blonde with my last two "professional" colorings.  The stylist would just say "That blonde.  Oh,  I don't think you want to do that all at once.  Lets go gradual."

I don't know if it was my impatience, my budget, or Matt saying, "You used to color your hair all the time by yourself and I always liked it better" that made me just go for it and go blonde again.  And short again.  

I do love being short and blonde and he loves it too.  It is much easier to work with and when I look in the mirror, I think it looks like me.  Not the me I've been thinking I should look like lately.   

simple fall chain

I have containers full of decorations for Halloween and Christmas but never anything specific for Thanksgiving.  So I decided to make a simple decoration to get my house in the thankful, festive spirit.

Such a simple decoration.  You need paper,  scissors, and glue (or glue dots, to make it even more simple).  Cut,  form into a ring,  paste,  link.  

Something about the simplicity of this made me so happy.  And I love looking at the beautiful fall colors.  Maybe there is something wrong with this mind if the cutting, arrangement, and patterns of paper make me happy. 

 If something is wrong with that,  I don't want to know.

it's very, very, dangerous

For some reason anytime I ask Z or K to do something they may not want to do at that time they answer, "I can't do ______ because it is very, very dangerous."

A couple of weeks ago I got some shots of Kaya refusing to do something because it was very, very dangerous.

What was that dangerous activity I was trying to bribe my daughter into?









Giving me a kiss goodnight!!!

donating treats

I know I'm not the only one with the agony of what to do with all of this stuff. Clearing clutter is constant, especially in the life of motherhood. Especially now, after Halloween. I know it is my favorite holiday and I kind of deserve having all of these sweets in my house, tempting the kids and myself.

So today we had a final candy party and boxed the rest up to donate. I wanted the kids to know what happened to all the candy so I wouldn't endlessly be answering the question, "Why is our candy gone?". Although I'm sure that question will be asked at least 5 times (better than 25).

Here we are packing up the box. (Yes, there is no picture of Kaya.....she was buck naked, of course...and I was just too tired to make her put her clothes on again).




I'd like to say I thought of this brilliant plan myself but I didn't---my neighborhood sent out a bulletin suggesting places to donate candy. We are sending ours to Operation Gratitude, an organization that sends supplies and treats to the troops. I hope each soldier comes home soon and keeps safe. Hopefully, our box of treats will put a smile on their faces.

playing

"Children Learn By Doing, And Play Is Their Work."-unknown

turkey countdown

I found this very cute idea on make and takes. Several readers gave different suggestions for making it your own. Zander made his and I made Kaya's turkey. We pluck a feather each day to countdown to Thanksgiving. You could write down things that you are grateful for for older kids. We will probably write about things we are grateful for in one setting. I have found lots of fun fall things to do with the kids that I can't wait to share with you soon on 2 Tots 2 Teach.





Happy Fall!!!

easy chicken and potatoes

Due to my very generous friends and dear family, I haven't had to worry about dinner-time for a long time now. This week, I'm easing back into my "real life" again and doing things like cooking. Which I have missed, a lot. There is something soothing and comforting about planning my family meals and preparing them each day.

Although I've missed it, I'm also not crazy. So for the next few weeks I'll be making easy meals. I'm making one of my old, favorite, easy meals right now in the crockpot. I thought I'd share it with you--

Crockpot Italian Chicken and Potatoes

Cut up 3-4 cups of potatoes (skin on or off, your preference) and put in bottom of crockpot. Top with one package of chicken breasts (3-4 pieces). The breasts can be fresh or frozen.....no need to cook, just throw in there! Pour in one small bottle of Italian flavored salad dressing. My favorite is Kraft Seven Seas Viva Italian. Add 4-5 shakes of Grated Parmesan cheese. Cook on low all day. It is finished when potatoes are tender, almost mushy, and chicken can shred easily with spoon or fork.

This is so easy and only takes a few minute of prep time......enjoy! Complete the meal with a side salad or your favorite green veggie.

a purr-fect bag

While lying in bed and recovering I had this idea for the purrfect gift.


I used my handy-dandy fusible paper to fuse felt onto a canvas bag. I also put the little girl's name on the bag so their was no need for an additional gift bag. I stitched her kitten's name on the heart of the collar.


To add an extra cute touch, I filled the bag with cat/kitten goodies.



The finished bag...

let's go voting

I was ready to vote bright and early this morning. I was fortunate enough to have a perfect little assistant to help me with my voting. I took Zander with me because I remember as a child voting with my parents. It seemed much cooler then though with the levers on the machines and pulling the curtain around you (very wizard-of-ozish).

But the excitement of voting must be contagious for young ones. Zander very patiently waited outside in the parking lot with me for 1 hour and 45 minutes. He kept squeezing his hands up to his face and saying "Are we going to vote?" excitedly, about every 2 minutes. He thought the whole process was so intriguing and especially loved getting his "I'm a Georgia Voter" sticker.



After waiting for so long I thought he would want to go home.....especially since we had donuts waiting at the house to eat with Kaya and Grandma. But after I cast my ballot he immediately wanted to go wait in line and vote again. As grandma said, "Such a good little democrat." He can't wait for Daddy to come home from work early so he can once again, go voting.

I hope everyone has a great election day and enjoyed your voting process.

diaper cake

One of my favorite things to make are diaper cakes. I love the repetitious rolling and tying of the diapers, the construction of the diapers & baby goodies, and thinking of the theme for each specific cake I'm creating. I have made cakes with a reading theme, mommy goodies theme, memories theme, and essential items theme.



My latest creation was a toy theme. I even hand-painted the wooden goodies. I love babies and making things to add to the excitement of their arrival!