Friday, December 30, 2011

Nutella & Go! At Walmart!


I have found a new addiction - nutella & go! I knew I loved nutella but did they really need to seal the deal and make these fabulous little to go snacks?? Oh my! So yummy!

Picked some up after spying them in the check out aisle at Walmart for my husband and I's stockings for Christmas and they never made it that far! Oops!


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Choices Choices: Camera Strap!

Oh how can I choose? Looking for a camera strap to customize my new Christmas present! But which do I choose??
Here are my two favorites!







I am leaning towards the top one. So pretty!

Straps available from Etsy shop: AugustBlossoms

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Santa Pancake Attempt


So I always get a little too excited about ideas like Santa Pancakes and end up forgetting very important elements like say....spraying the pans with Pam before trying to make said santa pancakes. Or only having one good squirt bottle for the colored batter so for the rest I am scrambling for any sort of squeezy receptacle - i.e. piping tips and frosting bags, even my easy accent decorator from Pampered Chef.

Really you need just plain old condiment squirt bottles - and I have three but could only find one. At least I thought I had three - maybe not. I dunno now.

So anywho - one pancake out of like 6 turned out ok. And by "ok" I mean that the whipped cream hid all the flaws and made it look decent. Haha!

Here's evidence of the other not so cutsey pancakes...by the end I was just making round pancakes with swirled colored batter - looked like Christmas Pancakes Gone Crazy - sadly I didn't take a picture of those before my hubby ate them. :)






Still - overall - a tasty treat for Christmas morning memories!

Here is how I thought they would turn out in my head...well, where my inspiration came from anyways: http://jennipriceillustration.blogspot.com/2011/12/lunchbox-santa.html

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Morning Magic


Oh wow! The Christmases with a little one keep getting better and better! So exciting to watch her eyes light up! Got to love Christmas morning magic! Christmas is a little different at 14 months than at 2 months old! Ha! :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Monday, December 12, 2011

It is that time of year again! How have I gotten this far behind in posting on my blog? Oy veh!

But alas here is a little sneak peek into what has been keeping me so busy! Family photo shoot in late October with our one year old little one to share with family and friends via our Christmas cards! I love Shutterfly! Who doesn't?


Photo Card
View the entire collection of cards.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Web Finds Wednesday

Pretzel Hugs Recipe

Brown Sugar Cookie Recipe

“At RIE we encourage parents to learn to quiet down, to sit peacefully, to observe and to allow babies to be real. …And as we get sensitized and skilled in the art of observing, we may try the greatest challenge: to look inside – to see, observe and learn about ourselves.” -Gerber

Frosted Pane Toddler Skirt Tutorial


Pumpkin White Chocolate Blondies Recipe

Yarn Block Prints How To

Four Alternatives to Punishment: Positive Solutions in Practice

Facebook Recommendations (like them!) >> Regarding Baby >> Janet Lansbury >> Magda Gerber >>
Resources for Infant Educators

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Web Finds Wednesday

Uncomsumption

Holiday gift tag printables <--- so cute!

Toddler French Toast Stick Recipe

A Toddler's Grief - A Gift of Grace <-- good read!
“You’re okay,” is repeatedly told to a child who hurts himself and does not feel okay. I would much rather give the child permission to feel the way she feels and then wait it out. Again the magic “waiting” works, because emotions have their beginning and their end — even tantrums have a beginning and an end.”  M
agda Gerber, Dear Parent: Caring for Infants With Respect


Hoseana - shop, click, auto-ship--monthly must haves delivered to your door


Youtube Video: Dad in a RIE Parenting class demonstrates a sensitive, empathetic and mindful way to handle a baby's minor injury.

Monday, November 7, 2011

To Think About

Source: Attachment Parenting International Facebook Page
"When I was about twenty years old, I met an old pastor's wife who told me that when she was young and had her first child, she didn't believe in striking children, although spanking kids with a switch pulled from a tree was standard punishment at the time.

"But one day when her son was four or five, he did something that she felt warranted a spanking--the first in his life. And she told him he would have to go outside and find a switch for her to hit him with. The boy was gone a long time. And when he came back in, he was crying.

"He said to her, 'Mama, I couldn't find a switch, but here's a rock you can throw at me.' All of the sudden a mother understood how the situation felt from the child's point of view: that if my mother wants to hurt me, it makes no difference what she does it with; she might as well do it with a stone.

"The mother took the boy onto her lap and they both cried. Then she laid the rock on a shelf in the kitchen to remind herself forever: never violence. Because violence begins in the nursery--one can raise children into violence."

~From a peace prize acceptance speech given by Astrid Lindgren, author of Pippi Longstocking


Such a moving thing to read - found on Attachment Parenting International Facebook page! If you aren't a fan - you should be! So many great things for parents!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Monkey Business


This wasn't her official Halloween costume but was a back up to our back up costume and was a gift from Christmas that was finally fitting and was fun to run around in before the big night! Cute and warm! Couldn't resist posting these shots! :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Web Finds Wednesday

Improve your dinner with a simple trick

How baby signs can help with breastfeeding

10 popcorn ball recipes for fall

squashy parts

comparing grass


why we chose to share our bed

First Trick or Treating!

Our modified cupcake costume! Much easier to move in!
Cherry on top!
Our bowl of candy for the trick or treaters while we were out!
Why are we leaving the candy?? :)
Trick or treaters getting to the candy before we even left the house!
Heading down the street!
Warm and cozy!
Finally a sucker! Yum!
Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Post Halloween!


Yes, my baby is trying to eat our bowl of candy for the trick or treaters! Haha - so cute!

Thank goodness she hasn't figured out wrappers yet!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Good Quotes

"All children behave as well as they are treated."
-- Jan Hunt
"The attention you pay to the other person, and the attention they pay to you – those moments are what your relationship is made up of.  You don’t have a relationship outside of that".
-- Alison Armstrong

"The secret of parenting is not in what a parent does but rather who the parent is to the child.  When a child seeks contact and closeness with us, we become enabled as a nurturer, a comforter, a guide, a model...All the parenting skills in the world cannot compensate for a lack of attachment relationship.  All the love in the world cannot get through without the psychological umbilical cord created by the child's attachment."
-- Gordon Neufeld

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Homemade Caramel Apples

Apple awaiting their caramel coating!
This is why I am glad I save all my Popsicle sticks throughout the year! :)
Yum!
In progress - I am so messy in the kitchen!
Our little spoon licker!
Yum!

After getting our pumpkins for this year, we hunkered down at home while our stew simmered in the crockpot and made some caramel apples! With homemade caramel! So easy and so good!

Here is the recipe! (found here at Tasty Kitchen)
  • 12 whole Apples (we only had 9)
  • ¼ cups Butter
  • 1 cup White Syrup (used Karo Corn Syrup)
  • 14 ounces, fluid Eagle Brand Condensed Milk
  • 2 cups White Granulated Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Assemble all ingredients: wash and dry apples, insert sticks, and butter a cookie sheet and dinner plate before starting to cook.

Heat all ingredients except vanilla in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium/low heat. Stir constantly! (Unless you really like the look of scorched bits on your apples.)

When caramel reaches soft ball stage (235°F–240°F) remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool a few minutes.

Using the stick inserted in the apples, dunk apples in the hot caramel and twirl slowly away from the heat for a couple of minutes. It’s nice to have a helper or two at this point.

Place caramel-covered apples on a buttered cookie sheet. Optional: drizzle with melted chocolate or roll in chopped nuts.

Extra caramel from the bottom of the pan:
1. Can be scraped out with a spatula into a buttered plate or dish to be cut into individual pieces when cool.
2. Can be thinned in the pan with half-and-half and eaten warm, as a dip for apple wedges.