Fall football and a sweet treat

We watched football on Saturday again.  Both boys played at the same time right next to each other.  It was so nice to be able to get it done at the same time and be able to watch both of them.  Cody started as the quarter back.  He did awesome almost scoring two touchdowns.  He was tackled the first time because he turned to look to make sure his dad and grandma were watching him.  The second time, the other kid was just too fast.  He caught Cody at the one yard line and then the lines changed so Cody didn't get to run the ball again.  He was grinning from ear to ear though, so proud of him.

In the huddle.  #13, that's my boy.

Cody the quarter back, running the football.  See the bright orange mouth guard?  He's grinning away.

If you have never gone to watch a youth football game, you really should.  The energy and excitement from these kids is so much fun.  The number of people that come out to the fields on a Saturday is just unreal.  There are hundreds of people out there cheering these boys on.  It's a lot of fun.

I made a new treat this weekend.  It was an easy one.  The hardest part was unwrapping all of the rolos.

I baked these for about 12 minutes at 250 degrees.  You want to melt them enough to be able to easily do the step.

Press the reeses pieces into the rolos carefully.  If you bump your finger into the rolo candy, just lick it.  It will not affect the outcome of these super delicious treats at all, promise!

Next I placed them in the fridge to firm up a bit so I could place them in a container.  Before I placed them in the container, I took a picture of a cute little dish full....just for you!

The container I moved all of these little treats to, it's already gone through the dishwasher and been put away.  That's how long these babies lasted.  It is pretty hard to let a little salted pretzel, caramel, peanut butter and chocolate sit there and stare at you.  They are amazing!  Perfect fall colors too.

There is a brand new member to our family.  Meet Vince.

Dane's sister and husband got him last week.  It's he adorable?  They now have a puppy to love.  In one month they will move into their new house and a month after that, they will welcome a brand new baby boy.  Do you think they will be busy?  I think so!

Now who's ready for Halloween?

Nite! Pin It

Mono bites.

This mono crud is really for the birds.  I take two steps forward to again, take one step back.  I felt like poo all day again today.  These darn headaches just aren't wanting to go away.  Have you ever had mono?  How long did yours last?  Sitting at my desk today I had my heater on, then I switched to my fan, then back to my heater.  I was a trooper though, I lasted the whole day at work feeling like I was going to vomit from my headache.  Dane took the boys to football tonight so I could rest.  We ordered a pizza.  There was no way I was cooking tonight.  Mono bites. 

I am getting ready to host a baby shower at my house next weekend.  Dane's sister and her husband are expecting a little boy in November.  I can hardly wait to be an Aunt.  Finally I will get to have that title behind my name.  My boys are beyond excited to be cousins, a first for them as well.  They have second cousins but no first.  It will be a lot of fun to have a little baby around again.  It's been 7 years since we've had one.

I am working on a few fun decorations for the party that I'll be sharing with you soon.  I am sure I'll be working on them right up until the night before so it might be a bit before you see them.  I love parties though.  I love to play hostess, I love to serve yummy food, and I love company.

I made another Fall decoration last weekend.  Brady helped me position the buttons just right and I love how it turned out.

 I took an old 8x10 frame I already had removing the glass.  I framed a piece of scrapbook paper in the frame.  Next I cut a piece of cream colored burlap fabric and glued it in the middle of the frame.  I already had a whole bunch of orange buttons to work with.  Dane calls my craft room the "crap" room.  Look at all of these really neat holiday decorations I can make from materials I already have.  If I was going to buy this in a store, it would probably cost me at least $10 don't you think?  I made this picture for way cheaper than that.  I love it when I can make something for dirt cheap!

I took some glue dots and started gluing the buttons down once I had the pumpkin shape I wanted, finishing with a few green buttons for the stem.

I still need a lot of practice with my camera.  I don't have it all figured out just quite yet.  Sorry for the blurry picture.  One of these days I'll read up on some tutorials and watch some youtube videos on how to better use my camera.

Tomorrow is Friday, tomorrow we will wake up with smiles on our face right?  I know I will.

Nite!

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Decorating on a budget

I've started decorating for Fall.  I can't help it.  I think it's ok to start at the beginning of September.  I think it's personal preference of when you start decorating.  I started asking my girlfriends at the beginning of August if they would think I was weird if I started getting my pumpkins and scarecrows out.  They told me it was too early and that I needed to still enjoy the summer.  So I did.  I waited until this last weekend to get my things out.  You know what happens every year though?  I open my totes all full of excitement to find a bunch of decorations that are blah.  Then I get this itch to go out shopping for new decorations only to find either things that are so tacky and ugly or way more than I want to spend.  So then I go home and get on that handy pinterest site I love so much and search for ideas. 

Candy corn.  Sitting so cute up on top of my cupboards next to my mason jar I painted a mustard yellow.  I was in a super cute craft store a couple of weeks ago and came across these adorable candy corn decorations and fell in love.  I wanted them.  Only problem was they were so expensive.  To buy all three sizes, I would have had to spend $42.  There was no way I could spend that on one set of candy corn.  They were styrofoam cones wrapped in yarn.  I could do this.  I went to the fabric store, bought the cones, found the thickest wool yarn I could find and started wrapping.  I pinned the yarn to the cones to hold them in place.  They were done in no time and I made all three for under $20.  I made two sets for myself, my brother's girlfriend made a set, and I made one more for a friend of mine.  These are so easy to whip up, anybody can make them.

Aren't they cute?  I didn't go with a bright white or bright yellow.  I wanted to tone the colors down to more of a natural candy corn look.  I love them. 

Next I needed something on top of my hutch in my dining room next to this lonely witch I had placed up there.  I took 4x4 blocks my dad had cut for me a few years ago and painted them chocolate brown.

Next I took some stencils I already had and some cream color paint and made me a Harvest sign.

You like?  Me too!  I had to prop them up a bit because the top of my hutch has molding around the edge that sits up a bit higher.  Under the blocks is some old tupperware covered in some burlap fabric.  The best part of this decoration was the part that is was free, well already paid for a few years ago.  You can go to Menards or Home Depot and get a 4x4 piece of wood for pretty cheap.  If you can find a nice fella, or yourself to cut the blocks, you've for endless ideas of what you can make for cute little signs. 

Nite!

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Wisconsin Dells

Do you ever run out of ideas for dinner?  I have the hardest time trying to come up with different things to make at night for dinner.  I am not the kind of person that enjoys eating the same meals each week yet I find myself always making the same things.  We had hamburgers on the grill again for dinner tonight.  It sounded so boring to me.  My family loves burgers on the grill and they are actually a very easy, quick dinner.  Still, it was boring...so I added some bruschetta to the dinner.  That's right.  I went down to my garden and picked 6 roma tomatoes and a big handful of basil.  I had the sun dried tomatoes and garlic in my fridge.  When I ran to the store to get buns for tonight's burgers, I grabbed a big loaf of french bread.  I know you usually see bruschetta served on a baguette but I'm not a fan.  I don't like hard crunchy bread just like I don't like hard crunchy cookies.  I am a soft bread/cookie eater.  The bruschetta was amazing.  I think Dane had 5 slices of them.  Don't tell him I said that though.  The balsamic vinegar in the tomato mixture is out of this world!  You have to try it.

I take 6 roma tomatoes, chopped and thrown into a bowl.  I add 1/2 cup of the sun dried tomatoes that come in the jar, packed in oil.  I take the tomatoes out of the oil and chop them on a cutting board.  Throw those into the bowl.  Mince 3 garlic cloves, throw in the bowl.  I add about 2 Tbs of olive oil and about 2 Tbs of balsamic vinegar.  Chop up 1/4 cup fresh basil and again, throw that into the bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and Ta-Da!  The mixture is made.  You can let this sit for a bit, I usually wait about 20 minutes before spooning the mixture onto the bread slices.  Sprinkle with a little mozzarella cheese and bake at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes.  You can put these under the broiler if you want, I would but my broiler is broken.

I've made this a few times before and it seems like the more I make it, the easier it is and the better it tastes.  Know why?  Because now I don't measure anything.  I guess, smell, and taste until it's just the way I like it.  This picture is from last year.  It still turns out looking the same, the flavors just get better.  The original recipe I found called for 1/4 cup olive oil.  Way too oily for me.  I want to taste the juices that come from the tomatoes and the hint of vinegar and the yummy basil, not the oil.

We made it to the Wisconsin Dells before school started this summer.  We had a blast.

The view looking out of our room window.

The view looking at the window in our room.  Cody, enjoying a second breakfast before we head out to the water park.  We went this year with friends, they have two boys close to our boys' ages.  We had so much fun!

Can you believe my 7-year old went down that yellow slide all by himself?  Cody went down so many big water slides this year.  I still can't believe he did it.  I think he went down this yellow one twice actually.  Becoming such a brave boy!

Every year we take our picture with the Mexican guy at this awesome Mexican restaurant.  You probably recognize him if you've been there.

Isn't it so funny how red Dane's head gets?  No matter how much sunscreen he puts on or how brown his head already is, his head always turns bright red.  Maybe he should start wearing one of those swim caps in the sun?  Cody, can the boy ever just sit and smile nicely?

We went on the duck boat tour this year.  Brady got to be co-captain and sit up front with the guide.

He loved it.  Poor kid was so sun burned by the time we got done.  There was no shade up there and the tour was a good hour long.  I bought him ice cream when we were done to cool him off.

Again, leave it to Cody to turn a nice family picture into dysfunctional looking family photo.

Until next year Wisconsin Dells!

Nite!

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A pumpkin picture

It was football Saturday today.  Funny, I sat outside in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans and have a sun burned face.  The wind was cool but Brady said he loved it.  I am sure it is a lot easier to play hard when it's not horribly hot. 

Let's play some football!

Our boys won their first game of the season today, 27-6.  Brady was so excited.  They are always a bit nervous for that first game but they did great.  Our coaches do a really good job.  Seems like everyone is right where they should be as far as positions go.  Brady played almost the entire game.  He loved every minute of it.  We already can't wait for next week.

I wanted to share a new craft project I made.  I found it on pinterest several months ago and saved it.  I had everything at home that I needed to make this.  Everyone has an old 8x10 photo frame.  I do a lot of card making so I always have a ton of craft paper on hand.  Speaking of cards, I should really get back into that.  I loved making cards and giving them to friends and family.  Add that to the list of to-do's right? 

Since I knew I was going to make this, I had a friend keep an eye out at the second hand shops for a used scrabble game.  She found me two, both at around $1.50 each. 
First I took the glass out of the frame.  I then cut a piece of burlap fabric I already had on hand and glued that into the frame.  Next I took a bunch of different craft paper and cut out the pumpkins on my cricut machine.  I glued them to the burlap and then added the letters.  It was so easy to make and looks adorable on my end table next to my couch.

Nite!

 

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Butterscotch Pudding Cookies

Just on a whim tonight, I put together a new cookie recipe.  This one called for a box of vanilla pudding mix.  I didn't have vanilla so I used butterscotch.  I left out the honey it called for and the peanuts.  I added more vanilla because I love it so much and added white chocolate chips with the regular milk chocolate chips for fun.  Oh my goodness are they yummy!

 I fell in love.  I am going to add this towards the top of the list of favorites for sure.  They are soft and chewy and just melt in your mouth. 

Butterscotch Pudding Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 small box instant butterscotch pudding
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Combine the dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside.  Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars together.  Add in the eggs and vanilla.  Next add the dry ingredients being careful not to over mix.  Stir in your chocolate chips by hand.

Drop your cookies onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes just until the edges turn a little bit brown.  Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.  This recipes makes about 3 cookies depending on the size of your cookie.

Lastly, step aside before you get run over by your boy anxiously waiting for that cookie.

 Nite!

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Back to school

Do you ever go to bed at night and wonder where in the world did the day go?  I just did that the other night wondering about the entire summer.  Here it is the beginning of September already, the boys have started back to school and our leaves are already starting to change on our backyard trees.  I've got a sad face.  I am however, excited to not fit into little tank tops and shorts...trade those little things in for jeans and sweatshirts.  I haven't done so hot with the whole working out/eating right thing lately.  Actually I have spent the last three and a half weeks on the couch each night after work thinking that I was actually dying of exhaustion.  Turns out I have mono.  I have been fighting it since the beginning of August.  I have had the most horrible headaches and have been so tired I could barely function.  Still I was working extra hours at work, cooking dinner, running to football practice, and trying to keep a clean house.  I just thought it was coming with age...I am 33 now you know. 

It's the "I love my brother, it's our first day of school" picture!  My little golden brown boys with their bleached blonde hair.  Brady started 5th grade this year, Cody 2nd.  This is their last year of school together in the same school until Brady starts 12th grade and Cody 9th.  I can't handle it. 

Please can I take this little boy of mine and make him 6 months old again where he wants to rock with me and drink from his bottle?  My grandma would say NO. 

And please can I take this boy of mine that is only two inches shorter than me and make him my perfect little 3-year old again where he loved to go to the park and read books with his momma?  Again, my grandma would say NO.  She would say, "You have to let those boys grow up and stop babying them!"  I know grandma, I just can't help it.  I want to keep them small and safe and always in my yard where I can see them at all times.  I think that's normal for most isn't it?  Ok, for some?

The first day was a success.  Cody didn't get in trouble and Brady didn't have to comfort him from crying outside of his classroom.  Cody had lots of friends he knew from last year, Brady the same.  I think they'll do great.  They came home with their planners the first day and this is what I found.

I believe Cody had to copy from the white board.  I'm so glad he "had a great day!"

Very informative Brady is.  I would say he did not copy from a white board, instead just wrote something to write something. 

I've got a few things to share with you in the next couple of weeks.  I am hoping now that we're back into a routine and I am slowly starting to feel better that I can share everything with you.  Today is the first day in 3 weeks that I have not had a headache.  I am praying this is coming to an end and I can start to feel normal again.  If not, I am afraid I'll start to lose my mind. 

Have you ever painted mason jars?  My mom would scold me if she saw this and probably will because now that I have painted these jars, I can no longer use them for canning.  I couldn't help it though.  I have seen them posted on pinterest a few times and just loved the look.  Plus I had everything I needed to do it at home and it didn't cost me any extra money.

Aren't they fun?  There are so many paint colors and different flowers to choose from.  You can put them on tables, on top of hutches, in hutches, on top of cupboards, in bathrooms...the ideas are endless and who doesn't love a cute little jar of flowers?  Plus with these, the flowers never die because you never have to water them!  See, I'm thinking...now you're thinking...  I didn't use any special paint.  I suppose you could spray paint them if you want but since I didn't want to go buy anything, I just got some colors out that I already had. 



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A s'more treat without the fire

The weather is amazing today.  It's 65 degrees outside, it's gloomy, it's chilly, it's perfect for a lazy day Sunday.  Dane took Brady to the Twin's game today.  My dad picked up Cody to go hiking in the woods.  I am alone.  I have worked for 12 days straight and needed a Kelly day.  It feels like Fall and I have all the windows open to let that crisp fresh air in.  To celebrate the day, I added a little Fall color to my counter top.

I've got the itch pretty badly to start decorating for Fall but I am trying really hard to hold off at least until the end of the month when I am on vacation for a week.  It's very tempting to bring those Fall colors into my house but I am holding off.

I have worked hard today to get my house cleaned.  I have said goodbye to quite a few dust bunnies.  What's nice about cleaning today?  Since cleaning 3 hours ago, each room is still just as clean as it was 3 hours ago!  Soon the family will be home and it will all look like "home" again.  Oh well.

I made some bars today.  After talking to my brother's girlfriend Shelby, I flew off my couch and dug through my pantry to see what I could find.  She was making s'more bars.  If that doesn't make your mouth water...  So I got busy.

Melt your 16oz bag of marshmallows until nice and smooth.  I added in 2 Tbs of butter to my marshmallows.

 Next I crushed up some graham crackers, about 3 full crackers.  I should have taken them out of the bag and put them in a cup for you to see better, sorry.

 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips.

6 cups of rice krispies.

First add the rice krispies to the marshmallows.  After combined, add in the graham crackers.  Last, add in the chocolate chips and stir really quick!

The are soft, gooey, and taste like Heaven.  Just close your eyes and pretend you are sitting by the camp fire in your over-sized sweatshirt eating that warm, amazing s'more.

What does Cody do when I tell him I have a treat for him?

Yum!

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.  Pin It

Under the Sea

The other day the boys and I headed up to the Mall of America.  We had plans to visit the underwater world, I think they call it something different now though.  It was our first experience down there.  What a neat place.  Who would have thought they would have all of these live creatures under a huge shopping mall?

We pet some starfish.

There was one little ride down there that Brady wanted to check out.  So in we went for the ride through the underwater rail road.  I was motion sick the rest of the time at the mall.  Don't laugh!  This tummy just can't take rides anymore for some reason.

I have never seen jelly fish up close like this and I have to say they were probably my favorite.  I didn't change a single thing in this picture as far as color goes, this is how the picture turned out.  Isn't that neat?

I wanted to take this little fella out of the tank and hold him.  He was so cute!

All the pictures turned out a little on the blurry side.  I am not sure if it was because I turned the flash off or what.  I really should take a class or two to learn about my camera a bit more.  I know it's capable of doing so much more, I just don't have the patience to figure it out. 

Hello Nemo!  I wonder how many people walk past this tank every day and yell the name Nemo at the glass.  I bet a lot.

I took this picture right after I asked Brady if we could go into a couple of clothing stores.  What do you think his answer was?

I am sure you can guess!  Nite! Pin It