Teenage Birthday Party

It's official: I have a teenager at my house!
This makes me both happy and sad, as I miss my little pint sized boy but am excited for the young man he is growing up to be. My blog has been quiet as we've been living life and celebrating these moments together. Turning 13 was a milestone for him and a reminder to me: I realize more and more how present I want to be in their lives, how fast it goes by and I feel full. My cup runneth over and it seems once I hit these moments I finally feel ready to write again and share some of what we've been up to and crafts I've fit in between.

So, here is a little window into how we celebrated his special day. In addition to family parties, I asked him, if he could only do one thing for his birthday, what would it be? He said he wanted to go Go Kart Racing at a nearby track. A grown up track. That went fast. I hope this isn't indicative of his future driving desires - but for this day, he got his wish. Some pictures of his day are below!

Birthdays at our house always start the night before. I decorate the table special for the birthday boy, there is a small present to unwrap and I write him a letter, just to him, about how special I think he is and the ways I have seen him grow this year. They never ask if they are getting a present in the morning, but they always ask if they are going to get their letter. It's a tradition I'm so glad they enjoy. Do you have a birthday tradition like this with your family?

 

Then it was off to Go Kart Racing!!

One of my favorite parts of the party was the cake HE picked out! It was an XBox cake with chocolate cake and caramel frosting inside. My friends at Twinfully Sweet made it for us and they exceeded our expectations!! If you're in Southern California, I HIGHLY recommend these girls for any party!! As you can see, the Xbox cake ROCKED!

I thought these cookies looked like they had tire tracks across them. The boys did too. Everything was a hit!

It's still surreal that I have a 13 year old...

{Me surprising him at school -- I take my parental job of embarrassing him VERY seriously.} ;o)

As tough as it is to please a teenager {wink}, he had a great time, great food, great friends and everyone left feeling like a winner!

Thanks for reading! Do you have a teenager at home? What activities do they enjoy? What birthday traditions do you do in your family?

Check back tomorrow as I share my first official Christmas craft of the season! {Inspired by the movie Frozen - you don't want to miss it!}

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4th of July Treat Pops. Sort of.

I love the 4th of July. It's my birthday month (woohoo), I love red, white and blue and there are so many fun crafts and food to make!

This year I'm having some friends over to watch the fireworks at our local lake. I thought to myself, "self, you should make some really awesome treats - one of those everyone will think is UH-MAZING, how-did-you-do-that sort of treat." And they should look festive.

So, when my grocery store was selling these at buy one get one free -- suddenly I had 24 cake treat pops.

Doesn't the picture make those pops look so pretty? So I immediately looked on Pinterest for inspiration (since you know there is no original idea anymore - even when I think I'm being creative and original, Pinterest Popper burst my bubble.) But I digress. :)

And I found these...

{source}

 I liked the red, white and blue - but instead of colored cake, I wanted colored frosting and white cake.

Yesterday I was at a party where I thought I'd practice these treats before the 'big show' on Thursday.

Lessons learned:

1. Mini cupcakes are not EXACTLY the same size as a push up pop.
2. If your cake is not the same size as your push pop, the frosting will "bleed."
3. Buying store bought tubes of colored frosting only kind of works. There isn't enough frosting for 12 push pops. Each tube frosts 3-4 at best.
4. Store bought frosting tubes are REALLY hard to squeeze out after a while. Especially toward the end. Your arms may hurt.
5. You will need to do more push ups and maybe lift some 5 lb. weights for a bit to prepare for your next push up treat pop adventure.
6. Smushy and messy treat pops taste just as good as perfect looking ones. True story.

So, I ask you, I am actually going to attempt this again for the 4th - any tips for success?

 

What's on your menu for the 4th of July?

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Sometimes I decorate my house and front door for St. Patrick's Day and sometimes (okay, a lot of times) we wear green, but always on special days I decorate the table and make my boys a fun breakfast! I love surprising them when they wake up in the morning! (Although, after 12 years of breakfasts, it's hardly a surprise anymore! lol)

This year I used the 'Top O' the Morning' printables from My Sister's Suitcase. I actually wasn't sure what I was going to use this year, but then I got mailed my local neighborhood magazine and inside came ALL the 'Top O' the Morning' printables, in color, ready to be cut out and used! How could I refuse? So, I didn't! lol

Here are some photos from our morning:

                  

I also made them personalized fortune cookies. I took out the original fortune and put in my own message. {Tutorial here}

I'm pretty sure they liked it, because my little one made this on his plate with his chocolate gold coins:

And then we ate!

After breakfast my kids said they were happy and FULL. Two things important in their little lives right now! I think of their needs often - and when I am behind in my blog posts, Facebook updates or unable to comment on my favorite blogs, I feel bad, but I never regret it. I never regret spending my time and energy on my boys. They deserve the first of my time, not the leftovers of my time and it is so encouraging to read some of your posts knowing you feel the same. You get it. And I know you get me too. :)

I feel so lucky blessed to be their mom and to have you here reading our ramblings.

I leave you with one of my favorite parts of our breakfast...

Yes, this is a green clover pancake! {Quick tutorial here} Did you get creative with food this St. Patrick's Day? Decorate with green? Cause some shenanegans? Where do you feel blessed in your life right now?


"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose." ~Romans 8:28

St. Patrick's Day ~ Clover Pancake

I've seen lots of clover pancake versions around the web recently, but none, *I think* have been made this way before.

I was going through my cupboards gettin all my St. Patrick's Day 'stuff' out of the pantry when I came across my flexible heart ice cube mold:

Originally, this tray made fun heart shaped ice cubes:

But as I looked at it, I thought it also had the potential to make a really cool clover pancake. So, operation pancake experiment began. I filled the ice tray with pancake mix:

I let them set overnight in the freezer and then popped them out for breakfast in the morning. I placed the frozen hearts (in the preheated pan) in the shape of a clover:

Frozen batter makes pancakes just as well as fresh batter, it just takes a minute or two more on each side. (Depending on your oven.) The nice thing about the batter being frozen is that I didn't have to worry about the shape changing as I poured and I could be very specific in placement. As the batter heats and cooks, the hearts molded into an adorably festive clover! My kids and I were very happy with the result!

 



 

 

 

I now want to mold pancakes into every imagineable shape! And since there are all kinds of ice shaped molds - the possibilities are endless! Have you tried this technique before? What shapes do you think would make fun pancakes?

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Personalized Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies

Is it really time to think about Valentine's Day already? I'm still enjoying the aftermath of Christmas - and enjoying our last few days of vacation before school starts! How about you?


Today,  I am sharing a creative Valentine's food activity I thought would be a perfect little treat for you to surprise your kids or someone special! (I shared this last Valentine's Day on Mess for Less, so I'm excited to share it here now too!)

Just a hint -- there is more to these fortune cookies than meets the eye… {wink!}

I love making special treats for my kids around the holidays and this easy snack is one of my favorites! So first, I set the stage for what looked like just a simple Valentine's day treat -- Strawberry milk and fortune cookies.





Then I let my boys open up their surprise fortune cookies:






What was the secret inside? Their own personalized fortune!




To make this whole treat, you will need:
-STRAWBERRY MILK: 8oz. Milk + 1 Tbs Strawberry Mix = Pink Strawberry milk!!

-FORTUNE COOKIES:
  -1 package of Fortune Cookies
  - paper towels
  - notes (pre printed or hand written!)






Personalized Fortune Cookies step-by-step:

1. Wrap one fortune cookie in a WET paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds.




2. IMMEDIATELY take the fortune cookie out of the microwave, unwrap from the paper towel,{Usually after 30 seconds things aren’t too hot, but be careful if you do this multiple times!} and GENTLY open up the fortune cookie just enough to pull out the original fortune.


3. Take out the old fortune and put in YOUR personalized fortune!




4. Fold the fortune cookie carefully back into it’s original shape and hold while it cools and re-hardens. {They literally take SECONDS to cool which is perfect if little hands want to help! As soon as you remove things from the microwave your kids can help shape and hold the cookie – unless you’re surprising them like I did!} :) FYI: Since they cool so fast, so I started out microwaving one cookie at a time. I got up to 3 cookies at a time once I got in the routine. You could make more if you had help! :)







Can you see my brand new fortune peeking through?




Because they cool so quickly, as soon as you are done making all your fortunes, you can enjoy your treat! To make this snack more festive I wrapped glass bottles with some cute Valentine printables…




…poured in the strawberry milk, and voilà! An instant Valentine’s snack that literally took just a few minutes to make!




To save you even more time, I’ve added the bottle wrappers and some premade fortunes here for you – for free!  Just right click on the image below to save, print and enjoy!







Are you ready to make your own? Have fun and thanks so much for reading! With this treat you are sure to have one fortunate little Valentine! xoxo

One fortunate reader will also win one copy of Mark Montano's new book of bling! Click here to enter!

S’mores Fudge

Happy Holidays!
THREE exciting things are happening RIGHT NOW!
1. The winner of the Thankful for YOU giveaway is announced – read to the end of this post to find out if it’s you! {Yay!}
2. There’s still time to enter the giveaway going on at Delightful Deets with TONS of awesome prize packages! and
3. Remember yesterday how I shared my White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge? Well we saved the best fudge for last!! I promised to share my boys’ favorite fudge recipe – and this is IT!


To make S’mores Fudge you will need:

• one bag of chocolate chips
• 10 oz. container of chocolate frosting
• Enough graham crackers to line the bottom of your fudge pan. Between 4-8 {I wanted really thick fudge, so I used a 6x9 inch – approx.- pan and about 3 whole graham crackers.}
• Marshmallows on top – to taste

1. First, line the bottom of your pan with foil or butter. {mostly on the sides, since the graham crackers won’t stick to the bottom of your pan!}

2. Then, pour the fudge mix on top of the graham crackers. For the full recipe on how to make the fudge click here. Remember to substitute chocolate chips and chocolate frosting!
3. Top with lots of marshmallows!! The more the merrier!

4. Then place in the refrigerator for about an hour until the fudge is set.

~Another option is to mix the marshmallows in with the fudge

and even crumble graham crackers in the mix! Yum! ~

Either way, you’re sure to have success! Get ready to wrap this tasty treat up as gifts and share with family or friends! Although, I know it’s pretty tempting to want to eat it all yourself {cough not that I would know anything about that} so I highly recommend making TWO batches!! Enjoy!

Have you made fudge this season? Which combination is your favorite?

And of course – our lucky winner of a Jute Growth Chart AND $10 iTunes gift card is… 

{drum roll please}…

 

CHELSEA THOM


Congrats Chelsea! I’ve sent you an email with all the details!! Woo hoo! Happy Holidays!

I'm sharing this recipe at Tip Junkie and some of my favorite places!