Wordless Wednesday

Tent

On Lil G's actual birthday, mommy and daddy gave him his present.  Mommy and daddy worked together to make Lil G an A-frame tent.  Daddy even routed the edges of the wood, so they were nice and rounded!  Lil G was very excited when he saw his gift.  Uncle Rodger gave Lil G some camping supplies, which he immediately began to use to make coffee for everyone!

 Trying on his canteen, while wearing his "watch"

Recipe #14: No Bake Energy Bites

These are a terrific snack.  They satisfy a sweet tooth without a ton of "junk".

No Bake Energy Bites

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter) (I use peanut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I use regular sized chips)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Recipe #13: Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

Oh My Goodness.  So delicious. You should make this.  As soon as possible.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!)
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla)
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream (I used heavy cream)

Instructions

1. Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

Random Lil G

 Making a frozen banana pop, complete with beak and eyes. 

 "I'm a Mickey Mouse robot!"

Heart shaped Valentine's Day lunch.

Smunchie is Ten Months old

I keep forgetting to post pictures of my little Smunchie!  She is ten months old now and getting ready to start pulling up on furniture.  She loves singing, playing with her big brother and eating whatever she can find on the ground :-)

Lil G is FOUR!

Meeska, Mouska, Mickey Mouse! There's a FOUR YEAR OLD in the Clubhouse!

I have no idea how it happened....but Lil G turns four years old tomorrow!  He is such a light in our lives and we decided to celebrate the little man with a party theme of a famous mouse....Mickey Mouse, to be exact.  He had a blast with his friends at our local "Clubhouse".

The kids started the festivities by making necklaces at "Minnie's Necklace Shoppe".  They enjoyed stringing Fruit Loops onto string to wear for the party.  

Of course, they picked up their "ears" first.  The boys had baseball caps and the girls had hair clips. 

 Smunchie didn't make a necklace.  She spent the time making faces at her Opa instead!

Next, we decided to go ahead and have cake.  I don't know if you know this but cake is the be-all-end-all for a preschool birthday party.  So, I figured it was silly to make the kiddos wait!  We all gathered 'round Lil G, to sing and let him blow out his candles.  He really liked the Mickey Mouse cake, make by mama and Gogie.  The birthday boy did freak us all out by almost climbing onto the table to blow out candles.  Luckily, no damage!

 All the kids were very patient, waiting for their cake.  They also enjoyed the popcorn, Chex Mix and fruits and veggies!

 Papa acted as our photographer for much of the festivities.  He made sure to keep in character though, with his Mickey Mouse ears!

The kids played a lot of Mickey themed games.  In this one, they each pinned Mickey ears onto a picture of the birthday boy, while wearing a mask.  They all got into the spirit of it (even the shy ones)!  Lil G took his turn so quickly that we didn't even get a picture of him!

Next, we played "Pass the Mickey Glove".  The kids passed around a Mickey glove while music played.  When the music stopped, whoever was holding the glove had to do a wacky activity!

Here's Lil G doing his best "Hot dog Dance".

The final activity in the glove was to march around and sing the Mickey Mouse Club song.  The kids really got into their marching and belting out M-I-C-K-E-Y
M-O-U-S-E!

 Next up was "Fishing for Gooeyfish".  Gooeyfish are fish that, for all purposes, look like Swedish Fish candy!  The kids had a blast fishing with the pole that Greg made, for the bags of Gooeyfish.

"Look dad! I caught a fish!"

 What party is complete without presents?  And wow!  Lil G got some awfully nice presents from his generous friends and family.  He loved opening them all and lining them up along the table.

His friends did such a great job watching him open gifts!

 For the final activity, we had a pull-string pinata.  Unfortunately, it didn't work too well!  So, mama busted open the bottom so that the prizes (aka-bouncy balls) could bounce EVERYWHERE!  The kids LOVED chasing down all the balls to take home with them.

It was a wonderful party.  We are so blessed to have such loving friends and family in our lives.  Lil G said over and over again that he had "the best time".