First Play Group

In some ways I feel like I've been living my life on hold (as we wait to move)... Although I've made a conscious effort NOT to do this, I have been shying away from "long-term" commitments in preparation for our move. I decided last summer that if we hadn't sold our house by August I was going to start Sadie in pre-school and we were going to get involved in Awana and I'm SO glad we did now that we've made it to the end of Awana and Sadie's "graduation" is several weeks away. I also got involved in a couple "moms" groups that meet once a month.

As for putting things on hold... We decided not to do small group last fall (which was kind of an easy decision since our regular small group decided to take a break for the semester). When cold weather hit and we were stuck inside I discovered that I really missed small group so I started pushing for our group to re-start. We decided to meet twice monthly as opposed to every week and it's been a good change. We're doing a parenting study for the first time ever (we've been with this group for 5 1/2 years and we are all now parents!) and we've been really enjoying it.

Something else I've been wanting to do for some time is to start a play group at our church (and open it up to the community). Last year on my maternity leave we went to our district-sponsored 0-5 play group weekly and LOVED it! I was so excited to be involved in it this year and their grant did not get funded. I realized that I really needed someone to help with this venture because a--I didn't want to do it alone and b--I want it to continue when we do move. I've been praying about this for awhile. Over the last several months I've gotten to know our music minister's wife--Meghan. She's a stay-at-home mom with 2 little boys. Her husband took the worship minister position at our church last summer. When I first asked her if she was interested in the idea she was very enthusiastic and told me "This is what I was looking for to be a part of when we moved here!" God answered my prayers with a definite answer!

We have had fun getting together to talk about our ideas/goals and to plan fun activities. We have received a lot of encouragement and support from our church staff as well. We decided to meet twice a month and are planning to meet throughout the summer. Right now I have no idea what this will grow into but I'm trusting God to use what we have to offer and multiply it! For our first play group we had a "Jonah and the whale" theme. I told the bible study from "inside the whale" and let the kids see what it looked/smelled/felt/sounded like. We had blue jello and whale crackers for snack and then kids got to do different activities with their moms including finger-painting an ocean with a whale and "re-telling" the story using water toys. We had 7 moms and 12 kids total. We were excited with the turn-out and have already talked to many more interested moms. Looking forward to our next group!

Cake Mix Cookies & Cream Cheese Frosting

I have lots of recipes that I want to share... so I guess I need to post recipes more regularly! I have been making cake mix cookies (aka--"Funfetti Cookies") since before I was married, but I've recently experimented with more different types. I took frosted banana cookies to our last Awana meeting and had several requests for the recipe so I decided I should share it! If you already make these, maybe you'll get a new idea!

Cake-Mix Cookies: 1 Box Cake Mix--Any Flavor!; 1/3 c. Oil; 2 Eggs

• Heat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine ingredients and stir until thoroughly moistened. (Dough will be somewhat sticky.) Shape dough into 1" balls (I use my medium cookie scoop). Place 2" apart on cookie sheet and slightly flatten using a glass dipped in flour. (If I am not planning to frost cookies, I like to roll them in powdered sugar.)



• Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes--do not over bake, they will continue to cook after you take them out.



• Cook completely and cover with frosting (see below!)

If you've watched DC Cupcakes on TLC, this is there signature frosting. I don't watch this show, but did see the sisters on The Talk where they shared this recipe and their "signature swirl" tip for frosting cupcakes... Love it! I love this frosting recipe because you can make 10 different flavors of frosting by changing one ingredient.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 T. Butter (room temp); 6 oz. Cream Cheese (Use full-fat for best results!); 4 c. Powdered Sugar; 1/4 t. vanilla (They added vanilla beans for yummy flavor, haven't tried that yet!)

Beat ingredients with an electric mixer until well combined... Try one of the following add-ins:

• Chocolate: Add 1/2 c. melted chocolate chips



• Lemon/Lime/Orange: Add juice and zest of (2 lemons, 3 limes, 1 orange)



• Mocha: Add 1/4 c. cool coffee



• Peanut Butter: Add 1/4 c. cream pb



• Maple: Add 1/4 c. maple syrup



• Cinnamon: Add 2 t. cinnamon



• Mint: Add 2 t. peppermint extract



• Toffee: Add 1/4 c. crushed toffee candy bar

Besides using this frosting for cupcakes, I've used pb frosting on brownies, plain frosting on cinnamon rolls, and tried many combos for cookies... Chocolate w/ pb, mint, or mocha; Red Velvet w/ regular or mint; Lemon w/ lemon; Banana w/ regular; Spice w/ cinnamon; White or Yellow with any flavor (I like the lime). I've started making these when I need a quick dessert or snack to take someplace--I usually have everything on hand to whip these up. They're quick, easy, and always a hit!

A Tired Little Boy...

Yep... that's really how I found him!

Sadie's Special Day

Last Sunday (on Sadie's actual birthday) Marc and I took her out for her very own special day. I love hearing her tell other people about her "date day" with Mommy & Daddy. We had a blast! We started our day with lunch at Old Chicago. Sadie had fun playing tic-tac-toe with us while we waited for our food. We of course had to end our meal with a giant skillet cookie and ice cream! After lunch we went to Barnes and Nobel for Sadie to spend a gift card she had gotten. We had fun browsing books and Sadie picked two new books--one with paper dolls and a ballet one. After Barnes and Nobel we headed to Build-a-Bear (our primary destination)! This was our first experience at B-a-B... one tip from my sister-in-law was to sign up for their rewards card to receive coupons. We went in ahead of time to sign up for the card and get a gift card for Sadie. Sure enough--we got a $10 off coupon a few days before our trip :) (Thanks Cori!) We had a blast watching Sadie choose her bear, bring it to life, and pick out an outfit (that was probably my favorite part!) She did such a great job and we loved the whole experience.

Stuffing her Bear...

Making a birth certificate--her bear shares her birthday and she named her Emma.

Giving Emma a bath...

Dressing Emma--after long deliberations, Sadie chose Hello Kitty p.j.'s (I know big surprise that the pajama queen choose p.j.'s for her bear!) and slippers. I was so proud of her for making choices to stick to her budget and not whining at all! She was so grateful and excited the whole day.

Sadie & Emma

A few weeks ago, we were at Andy & Lindsey's and they had made their baby boy a bear. Sadie thought this box was the coolest thing and she asked before we even went in the store if her bear would get a box to live in. She still has the box.

Sharing one more treat on the way home!

Sadie and Emma--tired from a very special day.

PS--Build-a-Bear is a great place to observe parents interacting with their kids! We watched one mom and daughter lay out over 20 outfits and accessories on a table and listened to the mom talk to her daughter about how to decide what she wanted. She even made the little girl walk around the entire store wearing her bear in a carrier to see if she liked it or not. I highly recommend a trip here!

Sadie's 4th Birthday Party

We had Sadie's 4th birthday party at IVGA (gymnastics center) this year and I'm so happy we did! It was the least stressful party I've every planned. Literally all I had to do was the cake (and some ice cream!) They provide everything else (plates, napkins, decorations, entertainment). I brought along a bag of supplies--knife, server, ice cream scoop, lighter and they had it all laid out ready to go! They also provided treat bags with balloons for all the kids to take home.

The instructor did an awesome job (especially including the 2 year-olds!) She started with some stretching and games. They did an obstacle course and then learned the rules of the different equipment while each got a turn to try things out.

My only picture of the three little monkeys!

Next it was cake-time. Sadie blew out her candles twice before we could even sing (I didn't light them again... and to my shame, I was caught on camera yelling at her after she blew them out the 2nd time!)

After cake, we went to another room for presents...

Sadie with most of her friends (the little boys wouldn't pose for a picture!)

Sadie's new book--"Love you Through and Through" by Mommy and Daddy.

After presents, the kids got some free-play time (their favorite part!)

When we got home, Sadie had to try on this new outfit. She was also very excited about her baby princess doll (from Kinnick). Macey had gotten one for her birthday--Sadie says that Ariel and Tiana are twins. We had a GREAT 4-year old birthday party day!

Baking With My Girls

Last week/weekend was a "sweet-filled" time at our house! We started on Thursday by baking Sadie's funfetti cake (2 round cakes plus cupcakes) and making sugar cookie dough. (I also made three pans of cinnamon rolls and a cinnamon roll ice cream cake which was amazing and simple--I'll have to share that recipe soon!) On Friday Sadie and Macey helped me cut out and bake 3 dozen tiara shaped sugar cookies. Sadie loved having her own dough to roll out and play with and Macey just loved watching! Friday afternoon we pulled our cakes out of the freezer to decorate. Sadie helped me decorate (while K & M were napping). She helped me spread frosting between each layer. When it was time to do the top and sides, I gave her her own "mini-cake" and frosting to work with and she did GREAT! She also helped me make patterns with the candy and stick them on to the castle cake.

Sadie's Princess Castle Cake:

The fun continued Sunday night and Monday as I decorated all these princess cookies for Sadie to take to pre-school for her birthday treats...

I'm happy to say our house is know (almost) sweet-free. We finished the cookies, dumped the leftover cake and frosting... there are however a few pieces of cinnamon roll ice cream cake in the freezer and of course some boxes of girl scout cookies... Not so good for my goal to lose a few pounds before summer!

Kid-Free Weekend

Last weekend, my parents kept our kids for two nights! We didn't have anything going on, Sadie had just been asking to spend the night at Gpa & Gma's. This was our first night alone since Macey was born (and the first night alone that I wasn't pregnant since before kids!) We had a fantastic, relaxing weekend and the kids has a blast also!

When I got home Friday afternoon I found these flowers waiting for me! I was also surprised to find all the laundry done (I usually do laundry on Thursdays) and the kitchen was clean (it was a mess when I left b/c I had baked green cupcakes!) What a great way to start the weekend! (I also enjoyed my quiet 3-hour car trip home listening to adult music and my stop at Target by MYSELF!)

When we were planning our weekend we decided to go to a movie and dinner on Saturday. I asked Marc what he wanted to do on Friday--he said "No kids--we're going out both days!" So Friday night we went to one of our favorite pizza places in Ottawa. On our way home we stopped for ice cream and a movie. It was perfect!

Saturday we slept in and I enjoyed reading for over an hour. We made breakfast together and left around lunch time to make our movie. We saw The Adjustment Bureau (and enjoyed it) and then did some shopping. The highlight of our shopping was picking out a new phone for me! (Some of you may know about my phone troubles... but for those who don't I went through 4 phones since my last upgrade--we decided to purchase the insurance this time!) After shopping we attended Crossroads Christian Church Saturday night service. This is a church that is right down the road from Marc's bank. We enjoyed checking it out and meeting a few new people. Finally we went out for dinner. We drove around scoping out some local places and decided on a little Wine bar & grill. It was in a big old house--very unique. We loved our food!

Sunday we enjoyed another morning of uninterrupted sleeping in before heading to Peoria to meet my parents for lunch... We enjoyed every minute of our kid-free weekend!