Lemon Bars

18 May

 

Ingredients

For the crust:

  • 1/2 pound softened butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups flour

For the filling:

  • 6 extra-large eggs
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (5 lemons)
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cup flour
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.   With the mixer on low, add the flour to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.  YUMMY!

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Summer Safari

15 May

This summer the boys and I are going to go on a “Summer Safari”…  There are several reasons I want to do this, but most of all it’s a way to stay engaged in learning while on a bit of a break…  We are going to study the continent of Africa, their culture, and the animals that live there.   We are most certainly going to do some reading, writing and of course CRAFTS to go with our unit…  Please join us and add your links to the comment section if you’ve done cute activities that relate to a SAFARI 🙂 …  We will probably start our journey at the end of June…  Can’t wait!

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Mother’s Day Challenge

12 May

So I had this thought the other day…  I’m not sure why exactly, maybe it’s because my Mom was a single parent, maybe it’s because my cute older neighbor lives alone and her family is so far away, maybe it’s because God has an idea for me… Not sure, but here it goes…

Who helps single Mom’s celebrate Mother’s Day?  What do people who are all alone do on the day we honor Mom’s?  What if you are a mom who lost a child, or a mom who hasn’t been able to have a child?  Who remembers these people?  I remember being a little girl and bringing home the handmade gift I made in class, but that was it.  No one took me shopping for my mom, I didn’t make her special meals, and she most certainly didn’t get the day “off”.   I know she loved my handmade gifts more than anything, but I’m also sure it would have been nice to be treated a little bit like a queen :).   I wonder what my sweet little neighbor will be doing tomorrow?  She has a grown son and grandchildren, but they live far away…  I wonder how my friend who lost her two year old son feels on Mother’s Day or our other friends who are unable to get pregnant?  It’s just heartbreaking for me to think of all these people who maybe wish the day would come and go or for whom the day does come and go without so much as a “thanks mom”…

This is the first Mother’s Day we are away from my Mom.  I know she’s ok with it, she has lots of friends to celebrate with and our boys sent her some special gifts and treats, but there are tons of Mom’s out there where Mother’s Day might actually be hard…  So my idea is this… Let’s brighten someones day just a little…

I asked the boys what they would like to get for Ms. Janet (our neighbor) for Mother’s Day…  They told me she loves fruit and especially kiwi.  Shaeffer wanted to give her flowers and Sutton wanted to draw her a picture in a frame.  It took me a little under an hour to run out and gather up all of their ideas and put them together in a basket for her.  We are going to bring it over in the morning and wish her a happy Mother’s Day.

I’m wondering if you can do the same?  Is there a neighbor, a friend, someone at church that you could just bring a something little to?  Stop and pick up some flowers in the morning, maybe muffins or scones…. If it’s someone you don’t know maybe just a gift card for a cup of coffee…  I just think we could help make Mother’s Day a little more special for those in our community who otherwise may see the day come and go without being honored for the Mom’s they are or want to be!

Will You Join Me for The Mother’s Day Challenge?   

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Easy Ways to Appreciate your Teacher

8 May

 

 

I don’t always feel crafty, sometimes I’m the opposite of crafty, sometimes I’m just in a slump, and sometimes I’d just rather play outside…  This happens to be one of those weeks.  I’m not really sure why, but I’m fine with it.  We’ve spent a lot of time outside riding bikes, exploring and playing with balls.  We’ve spent a lot of time entertaining friends for dinner and cleaning up the toy room after all the fun has been had…

This week also happens to be Teacher Appreciation Week.  I have seen some adorable ideas on Pinterest and am amazed by your creativity.  I love spoiling teachers-especially since I know how it feels to be spoiled.  I also know that spoiling teachers sometimes means giving them things they can do that don’t always relate to school… Meals out, time with their family, books, and gift cards are all special to that person who helps make a difference in your child’s life.  This week we are donating some food for special lunches, buying coffee and treats, drawing thank you pictures and spending a little money on some gift cards…    Not super crafty, but from one teacher to another I know they will be appreciated!  I guess what I’m saying is that you don’t have to be crafty or cutsie to thank your teacher, just thoughtful!

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Turkey or Chicken Cherry Pasta Salad

7 May

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at my son’s school.  As you know, I have a special place in my heart for teachers :).  Our school does special meals for the teachers all week long and I volunteered to bring in a couple of items.  Today was side dish….  I opted for one of our favorite summer dishes, Chicken/Turkey cherry pasta salad.  I have made this with both “meats”  and it is equally as great.  I’ve also made it with smoked turkey from the deli, leftover turkey from a special meal, and chicken…  No matter which way, it’s awesome!  I’m awful at measuring this out, basically the amounts don’t really matter, but if you are a measurer, Here’s the scoop:

Ingredients:

SALAD

  • 1 pound rotelle pasta
  • 1.5-2 lbs diced cooked turkey or chicken breast
  • 1 cup dried cherries
  • 1 medium diced onion (I often use green onions)
  • 4 diced celery stalks
  • 1 cup toasted whole almonds or chopped pecans (optional)
  • 1/2 bottle of Brianna’s Poppy Seed Dressing OR recipe below (I usually go with the bottle)
  • DRESSING (if you don’t use Brianna’s Poppy Seed Dressing from a Bottle)
    • 2 cups mayonnaise
    • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
    • 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
    • 2 tablespoons water
    • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
    • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
    • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
    • This is the one I made this morning for the teachers…  I hope they enjoy it 🙂

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Cinco de Mayo Craft or Centerpiece

4 May

The boys and I made these sombreros today as a little craft for Cinco de Mayo.  We’re having a little FIESTA with some neighbors tomorrow afternoon and we thought they’d make cute centerpieces.  So not only were they fun to make, but they serve a purpose, as well….  They were also super easy to put together.  All you need is a paper plate, paper cup, some pipe cleaners, puff balls and glue!  I twisted the pipe cleaners around the bottom of each cup and cut off the ends for the boys.  They rest they were able to manage themselves…  We practiced patterns and counting while we were making them too!  The other idea I had was to punch a hole on either side of the cups and thread them with ribbon to make a cute banner…  What ever you choose I think they’ll be a hit at your fiesta too!

 

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Pallet Furniture

1 May

My husband will be the first to tell you he’s never had the opportunity to learn how to build things..  He’s really artistic and very talented in both his job and his photography, but he has never been taught about puttin’ stuff together.  UNTIL NOW :)…  Our very handy and kind neighbor “Mr. Brian” helped Ben to build this awesome coffee table out of pallets.  Those men put some time and energy into getting this table just right and they did a fantastic job…  I can’t give you any details about how it was done because Ben is traveling right now, but what I do know is they did this based on a photo we found on pinterest.  As you can tell one of the pallets is upside down and as far as I know they did a lot of taking apart and putting back together.  Ben stained it and made it all “PERTY” for us…

Brian and Ben are now on to what they say is a more simple project, the pallet couch…  I’m anxious to see their rendition and to post pics for you!  For now you can gawk at our pallet coffee table :).  If you want to know specifics I’d be happy to have Ben send you an email, just let me know in the comments section!

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Mother’s Day Cupcakes l Flower Cupcakes

29 Apr

Make these for MOM… Mom’s love chocolate, flowers, and all things homemade… She’ll love these too, I guarantee…  If not, I bet you’ll find someone who loves them…  I know we were able to pawn them off on our neighbors and friends, no questions asked!  Here’s the scoop, so easy:

1.  Make your favorite flavor of cupcakes.  I had originally planned to make white cupcakes with white frosting, but my boys thought they should be brown like “the dirt” that flowers grow in…  Love their thinking!

2.  Basically we used green sprinkles for “grass”, suckers for flowers and I cut green Now and Laters for the leaves.  You could use jelly beans or peanut M&M’s for the leaves too… or if you are really adventurous you could make leaves out of melting chocolate.

3.  TADA, that’s it…  so easy and pretty cute!

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May Day Baskets

25 Apr

May Day is just a few short days away and it’s such a fun time to bless a neighbor or friend!  These baskets are so easy and you can fill them with little treats and then “ding dong ditch” your neighbors/friends/family with a purpose!  SO FUN…  Here’s The Scoop:

You’ll Need

Construction Paper

Scissors

Glue

Stapler/Tape

Markers

Treats

Directions:

To Make the cone shaped basket you will need to cut a 9.5×11 sheet of paper into a half circle shape.  Depending on the insect you choose to make you might need to use two colors….

Once you’ve made your half circle shape you will just “roll” the paper into a cone shape and staple, tape or glue it into place…

Then you will need to trace a circle for the head (I used a one cup measuring cup)…  Draw some wings, antenna, eyes, etc.. We used glue stick to attach the head, antenna and eyes.  I stapled the wings to the back of each of the cones just to make sure they would stay!  We drew the spots and faces on with markers, but you could use google eyes and stickers too if you wanted.   I cut a one inch thick/11 inch long piece of paper for the handle of the basket.   The boys had a lot of fun with this!  You can really make them your own!   Add treats and gifts and TADA!

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Move it outside…

23 Apr

The weather here has been beyond amazing the past couple of days…. The boys love to be outside, of course, but our days don’t always allow for me to be right there with them every second of the day…  this girl has to get the laundry done too!  Any ways, I decided to move some of our inside activities to the deck so that the boys could have an outside playroom!  It keeps them close and contained and outside-perfect.  Legos and blocks on the picnic table, water table full of water, easel and paints ready to go…

We gave the baby paint brushes and water and he “painted” our deck for us…  This kept him very busy!  It’s funny how just switching things up the tiniest bit make for hours of new found fun!

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