Thanksgiving 2016

Mmmmm, it's Thansgiving time again and my house smells AWESOME!! Today, I ventured in making homemade cranberry sauce and WOW!!  This sauce turned out better than I could have expected and it was super easy. We are in full "get ready for turkey day" in our house and I can't wait! The turkeys are drying and getting ready to be fried tomorrow. I already made roasted garlic mashed potatoes, corn bread, asparagus, cinnamon roll apple pie, pumpkin cheesecake, dips, veggie platter, maple glazed walnuts for my brie, and of course this amazing cranberry sauce.... this little turkey is ready for tomorrow!! This will be a very hard day, as my grandmother isn't doing well and is currently in the hospital, but I need to keep the traditions going and support my family in the way I know how- entertaining them!!

Cranberry Sauce:

*1 bag of cranberries
*1/2 cup of water
*1/2 cup sugar
*1/2 cup orange juice
*1 cup strawberry preserves
*cinnamon sticks
*orange zest

Combine all ingredients, except orange zest, and simmer until cooked to the consistency you prefer. When done, sprinkle orange zest over the top and serve warm or cool. ENJOY!!

Thanksgiving Class Party

I had to pop on and quickly share the adorable Turkey Centerpiece gifts we made for Gianna's class party. My friend and I had so much fun making these adorable turkeys, filled with m&m's, out of tulle and pipe cleaners and googly eyes!! I can't wait to see what everyone thinks, my kids sure love them!!

Gianna's 5th & Tommy's 3rd Birthday Party- Pajama Party

Pajama Party was in full effect for the kid's birthdays this year. Everyone dressed in their pajamas, some of us even went all out with slippers! I served breakfast food, such as stuffed bagel bites, muffins, fruit, and parfaits. I had milk, water and juice for the kids and hot cocoa, coffee and chai tea with a variety of creamers for the adults. We even brought our Keurig so everyone could make it their own way (big hit!!).

My kids LOVE donuts, so instead of a traditional cake, I had a local bakery make a donut tower and topped them with their birthday candle.  I also had them make rice krispie treats, I would have made them myself, but unfortunately my great aunt passed away and I was busy with family matters. The donut tower and rice krispie treats were perfect for our large party, no one had to cut and serve!! Finally, the favors (which I somehow forgot to take a picture of) were pillow cases that I tie dyed, mini cereal boxes and Zak Sipper Cereal bowls (which I got for a $1 each at target, I bought out 3 stores). I wrapped each family together, each child received every item, then tied bows with ribbon and inserted decorated spoons on the top. They were absolutely adorable, still can't believe I didn't get a good picture!! The party was a hit and everyone is looking forward to next year already!! I better get thinking of a theme...

Gianna's 5th Birthday

When I say my baby girl is 5, a tear is rolling down my face... I can not believe I have a 5 year old!! Gianna has changed our since the minute we found out I was pregnant.  Since we had a large combined birthday party, sorry I still have to post about that, we decided to keep it small for her real birthday. It was a special day, lunch with friends and dinner with family. Breakfast was none other than this incredible cinnamon roll 5! I made one for Tommy's 3rd birthday and Gianna LOVED it, I knew I this would become a birthday tradition!! She wanted a Peppa Pig theme, you can see the cake above.. from scratch, of course! I had SOOO much fun decorating the cake, making her favorite homemade chocolate cake and frosting. Gianna loves chocolate, so this was right up her alley! I made a mud pile of Peppa and her family, added a few flowers and grass patches, and surrounded the entire cake with kit-kats. It was delicious and Gianna was in her glory!

Below are the cinnamon roll 3 & 5- super easy and a great special addition to any birthday celebration!!

Halloween 2016

Happy Halloween! Again, this is not my favorite day of the year, but I make the best out of it!! My friend and I decided to make painted pumpkins for our class party. Didn't they turn out great? We had fun making bats, webs, jack-o-lantern faces and a few with dots- so cute!!

I signed up for a healthy treat for Gianna's party, so I made this fun face out of fruit! It was fun, and the kids and I ate more fruit than we put on the plate!! Getting the kids involved was a fun activity!!

Tonight we had a Halloween party before trick-or-treating. I made cute dip holders by carving out small sugar pumpkins... super easy and makes a statement. I also attempted chocolate caramel apple slices... not as easy as I thought they would be. I suggest dipping in caramel and then chocolate to help them harden correctly. As you can see they caramel and chocolate slipped off because the apple slices are moist. I will have to work on these for next time!!

Check out our carved pumpkins this year.....Daddy was super busy so I did all 3! Each kid picked out the shapes and helped me draw the mouth for their individual jack-o-lanterns. I was inspired by the kid's party this year, Wizard of Oz, for my pumpkin. I found a silhouette online and created my template. I think it came out pretty decent for something that wasn't meant for a pumpkin stencil!!

I also made these adorable rice krispie pumpkins by adding a tootsie roll as the top, and a few even had a monster popping out.  I also made my famous chocolate pretzels because they are just soooooo yummy!! Happy Halloween everyone... off to trick or treating!

Tommy turns 3- Blaze Birthday

When I say I can not believe my baby boy is three- I SERIOUSLY CAN NOT!! Where have the last three years gone??  Tommy loves Blaze and the Monster Machines, so for his classroom and family party I went all out! Above is a picture of the cake I created for his actual birthday. I took the number 3 and turned it into a road for the monster machines. I added smashed up Oreo's as the dirt, whoppers are boulders, and homemade chocolate frosting, don't worry, cake was from scratch too, like always!! Below are the cupcakes I made for Tommy's class- aren't they adorable??

For dinner we went with true Tommy fashion and served a DIP IT party- everything you can dip was served... Chicken nuggets, fries, mini hot dogs, and chips with all the sauces you can imagine. For appetizers I got a little creative and made a traffic light out of  grapes, cheese, pepperoni and crackers (Tommy's favorite snacks). 

Finally, a cute chip and dip display... dump truck chips & salsa.  Tommy enjoyed dipping the night away, tackling his cake and is now off to dreamland... sweet dreams my sweet boy, I still can not believe you are 3!!

Teacher's Gifts (Flower Vase)

Being class mom this year has been an incredible journey! Being on the other side of the coin was unique and exciting. The teacher's this year have been amazing and I wanted to give them something they could use and treasure for years.  This was a multi-step process that the kids were part of. I painted to base blue and grass ahead of time. Then, asked each child to give me a thumbprint to create a insect/flower/animal of their choice. After, I got to work on all of the small details creating the insects, flowers, and animals and bringing them to life!! This was sooooo much fun and I must say, I wanted one for myself.  I presented the teachers with these vases, filled with flowers, at the moving up ceremony and they both cried- MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I'm already planning gifts for next year, I don't know if I can top this one though, it will be hard!!

Easter Creations (Peeps S'mores Dip & Cool Whip Egg Decorating)

Bouna Pasqua, Happy Easter everyone! We have been very busy little bunnies over here!! We have had a lot of fun creating Easter treats for the Easter Bunny and celebrations we have. I don't know about you, but Peeps are a big thing in our house, well, with everyone except me!! My children and husband LOVE LOVE LOVE peeps! So I decided as part of dessert this year to try out this Peeps S'mores Dip... what a hit!!! I served it with graham crackers and cut up fruit!

We also decided to make some yummy pretzel nests, these can also be made with crunchy noodles! I simply made them like I do rice kripsies- butter and marshmallow melted together, add pretzels and form! We then added some egg m&m's while warm and sticky!!

Gianna's class party was the other day and I made these adorable additions- Fruit Bunny Platter & rice krispie nests- always a big hit!!

Finally, we tried out making cool whip eggs! WHAT FUN and they turned out much better than I expected. These can also be made with shaving cream, but Tommy still loves putting new things in his mouth, so I went with cool whip!!

Ingredients:

*Hardboiled eggs

*Neon food coloring (regular works as well but will be less vibrant)

*Cool Whip (can use shaving cream)

*Shallow plastic pins (a cookie sheet would be fine if using shaving cream)

I thawed the cool whip over night so it would be the right consistency. I let each kid pick two colors per container. You simply add cool whip to the container and spread around, add a few drips of cool whip and mix around and twirl. Add eggs and mix around, make sure they are covered all over. I then let the eggs sit about 30-45 minutes. Take each egg and dip into a bowl of cool water and shake off the cool whip, don't run under water as the color could wash off. I gently patted each egg dry and let them sit in the egg crate overnight in the fridge to set.

The colors were vibrant and this was a really fun way to decorate eggs. You could absolutely add stickers and decorations, but we loved them the way they were!! 

Happy Easter from our family to yours!! 

Valentine's 2016 (Homemade Pop Tarts )

We had a fun cousin sleepover today for Valentine's Day.  We made our traditional heart pizza's and I wanted to try out a new recipe- homemade pop tarts.  I added strawberry slices to look like hearts.  These were super easy to make and delicious.

Heart Pop tarts-

Ingredients:

*Pie Crust sheets
*Strawberries
*Cream Cheese
*Coarse Sugar  ( I prefer turbinado)
*Eggwash
*Strawberry jam

Directions- Preheat over to 375* line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Cut shapes with pie crust to form pop tart.  Spread a few tbs of cream cheese and a dollop of jam onto bottom piecrust pieces.  Cut out heart shape with cookie cutter on the top pieces of pie crust and place on top of each pop tart.  Slice strawberries and add them to the opening on each pop tart.  Brush each poptart with eggwash and sprinkle on sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!! Happy Valentine's Day!

Footprint Fun

While looking back at pictures from the last few months, I came across these adorable canvas' I made with Tommy for his bedroom. Each one is a footprint that I then enhanced with details to create an airplane, train, tractor and firetruck.

There are so many possibilities for a craft like this, but Tommy's room theme is planes, trains and automobiles, so that's where I headed. I combined a bunch of different ideas that I saw and made them my own to create these.

I bought 8x8 canvas' on amazon and used crayola non-toxic finger paint for Tommy's footprints. I then used a combination of the crayola paint and my paint markers to add details.

Now that these are complete, Gianna is already requesting ones for her room, I better get looking!!

Christmas party

It's the most wonderful time of the year... I think I say this every year, but I really LOVE Christmas!! Gianna's class party is tomorrow and I made these adorable cupcakes. I baked homemade chocolate cupcakes and whipped up some buttercream icing! I found this adorable Wilton Cupcake kit at Christmas Tree Shop to make the upside down Santa's- SUPER EASY!! I will keep my eye out for more of these, they make me look professional with very little work- great for this busy mom of 2!! Off to bed...

Gianna's 4th Princess & Pirate Birthday Party

Gianna is allllllllll about the sparkle! My little girl is turning 4 and wanted a princess party. Since she has a lot of close friends who are boys, we decided to make it a princess and pirate party- encouraging our guests to dress as their favorite!!

I cleared out my back room and set the table for party time. I have been planning this party for months, of course, and now it was time to execute! I found adorable princess party containers at the Christmas Tree Shop, and ordered a bunch of princess and pirate balloons. The kids made treasure/jewelry boxes, fruit loop necklaces and more. I had a variety of snacks and drinks available for the kids and adults to nibble while we did the crafts.

I continued my cupcake cake theme for this party as well, since it saves so much time. This time a request for a princess cake was in order and it needed to be PINK!! I ordered a Wilton pink food coloring, so I could make sure it was a true pink icing. I make all my icing from scratch, as well as the cupcakes.  Gianna wanted chocolate cupcakes, so that is exactly what she got! If you're looking for a great icing recipe, look no further, Wilton Buttercream Icing, is the best! In addition to the cupcake cake, I made my famous chocolate covered pretzels and "jewel" rice krispie treats! At the end of the day, everyone went home full, happy and exhausted from all the fun!! Thanks for making Gianna's birthday a blast, the princess is off to dreamland and the queen is on her way as well!

Pajama Program Fundraiser

Hi everyone... If you happen to be free next Thursday, please feel free to come by Kidville for this incredible fundraiser. There will be raffles, playtime, snacks, and more... Wear your PJs and bring a book or new pajamas as your donation. We are hoping to make this a very successful event!!


**Update**  Thank you to everyone who came out to make our event a HUGE success!! We were able to donate boxes and boxes filled with pajamas and books, along with a great monetary donation!! The Pajama Program and Northern Westchester Community House were very grateful for our contribution!!!

Christmas Card 2015

Now that Christmas cards have been sent I can post this.... How cute are my babies?? I know I had one more year of dressing Tommy however I wanted, so I needed to make sure it was GOOD!!! My little snowman and Santa baby, such sweetness!!

Turkey Cookies

I cannot stop laughing.... Gianna wanted to make turkey chocolate chip cookies so I had to support her dream and let her do it!! Luckily, I had homemade cookie dough in the freezer and since they were oblong"ish" it worked... They may not be the best looking, but she sure was so proud!!

Halloween Pumpkins 2015

I may not be the biggest fan of Halloween, but I LOVE carving pumpkins! The kids each chose one design and then Gianna was able to help me make a typical jack-o-lantern. Can you guess which kid picked which character?? HA! Off to trick or treating...

Class Mom on a Mission...Halloween Party

Since becoming Gianna's class mom, I have found a new home for my creative thoughts.... CLASS PARTIES!!! This was my first class party setup and it went smoothly! I decided to make the Mummy Juice boxes above. This was a very simple craft, just time consuming. Wrap juice boxes with white electrical tape, add googly eyes and DONE!! Don't forget to leave a gap for the straw hole!! Happy Halloween!!

Tommy's 2nd Birthday

After a busy summer filled with lots of adventures, we are now in a new phase... Gianna is now in preschool!! WOW- I can't believe I'm saying that! This has given Tommy and I a few hours, 3 days a week, of quality Mommy/Tommy time!! We have joined a few classes and enjoy learning new things together.

Tommy turned 2 over the weekend and I am so happy with how everything turned out.  It was an Elmo themed party....Above is a picture of my dessert table, but there was a lot going on besides this!

I had a table of crafts for children to do when they weren't busy playing and running around. We decorated mini pumpkins with markers and stickers. I then held an Elmo Egg Hunt all over my backyard, each child received their own goodie bag to fill with eggs. It was great to see all of the kids running around trying to get the most eggs while the littlest ones stop to open each one- pure cuteness!

I made easy centerpieces with a jar filled with M&M's and a number 2 candle inside- this is an easy and adorable addition to any tablescape. I made homemade caramel pretzels, Rubber ducky punch, fruit platters of Elmo and Cookie monster, veggie platters of Elmo & Oscar, and the most delicious, from scratch, Elmo Cupcake Cake, and Big Bird & Cookie Monster Cupcakes...the hours of dedication and creativity were well worth the look on Tommy's face! A cute tip- I went on etsy and ordered a "instant download" set of table cards that I could personalize with each item that was on the table- very reasonably priced and made it a lot cuter!

Babies, Babies, & More Babies

Over the last few months we have welcomed a bunch of beautiful babies into our friends & family circles. I have enjoyed making hand-tied blankets and gift baskets!

I got adventurous and even used the blankets to be the "gift bag" wrapping toys, clothes and more inside!!

I have enjoyed getting pictures of these precious babies with their new blankets and goodies I stacked inside!!

Homemade Playdough

We ventured in making our own playdough today.  I let the kids help me measure out the ingredients. We added mint extract to change it up. This was a lot of fun and I can't wait to make more and more for the kids. I strongly suggest making a double or triple batch!!

 **I have updated to a new and improved recipe**

Playdough Recipe

1 Cup of Flour
1 Cup of Water
1 Tbs. Cream of Tartar
1 Tbs. Oil
1/2 cup salt
*Optional- Food Coloring & Extract oils for scent

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and put in a pot over low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and forms a ball. If you are adding oil, do so after you take it out of the pot and knead it for a few minutes. Let it cool and store in an airtight container.

Easter nests...

Gianna asked if we could make something for Easter this year and of course I couldn't resist!! How adorable are these little nests??

I always follow Kellog's Rice Krispie Treats recipe for any krispie treat! I took the mixture and put it in greased muffin pans to set the shape! While they cooled and set, Gianna and I made the "grass". We added shredded coconut and green food coloring into a bag. I let her shake it all around- this was so much fun!

We then assembled our nests, adding the grass and a Robin's egg candy and a few Peep's chicks.... we can't wait to dig in!! Happy Easter everyone!

Cookie Dough Footballs

It's Super Bowl time again... and of course I made my famous Rice Krispie Footabll (look for recipe on my blog). This year I wanted to add something extra special. I came across this recipe one day for cookie dough balls and said- OMG, these would be great for Super Bowl as footballs.... so here we are!! These went faster than the half-time show! Who doesn't love cookie dough?? It's the best comfort food, and without raw egg, it's INCREDIBLE! This recipe even calls for apple sauce- that makes me feel a little better, hehe!

Here's the recipe, I made them into football shapes, but they are great as balls! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Dirt...let's get mixing!

Snowy weather and we need to find something to entertain the kiddos! We decided to make DIRT! 

This is a great lesson, while still keeping it fun! 

We followed the directions on the pudding packet and whisked the milk and powdered mix together... that was fun and tiring!! We then crushed up oreos- what a fun activity with this little peanut! I grabbed a rolling pin and let her go at it! We the layered our bowl with pudding, oreo crumbs, pudding, oreo crumbs. We talked about the layers. Finally, we added some green sprinkles and gummy worms as a final touch. We let it sit in the fridge for about an hour until we were ready to eat it!! YUMMY- and a big hit!

Cookies & Cocoa are ready for Santa

Christmastime is seriously my favorite time of the year! I count down to Christmas all year long, shop in advance, and get giddy like a child! The joy of Christmas through my children's eyes is one of the greatest blessings of the season.

This year I decided to create our own cookie & cocoa plate and mug set.  Thankfully my mom was able to watch the kids so I could do the prep and finishing touches after they did their hand, foot, and thumb prints! I wanted to incorporate all of my favorite things about Christmas- Santa, reindeer, snowmen, a Christmas tree (Gianna's hand) and a penguin (Tommy's foot - not pictured). It took me a few hours to add all the details & writing to finish this adorable set. I look forward to treasuring this set for years to come!!

We always spoil Santa and the reindeer with homemade cookies, Gianna chose to give them a biscotti, tarale, and rainbow cookie (don't forget the carrots for the reindeer!).

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night...

Hosting Thanksgiving

Today was our first Thanksgiving in our new home and we decided to host my entire family!! I was so excited and have been waiting for years to host Thanksgiving. I made homemade Italian Wedding Soup for an appetizer along with a cheese platter, crackers, dip, homemade sopressata and this adorable veggie platter shaped like a turkey!

We fried our turkeys this year and WOW!!!! Look at how awesome this turkey turned out- and boy was it delicious. We made our own rub for it which included butter, garlic, seasoned salt, beer, honey, mustard and italian seasoning. I wish I took a picture of both turkeys, but they were gone soooooo fast!!

Overall, this was a very successful holiday and I've already started planning next years menu! We gobbled till we wobbled, now it's bed time.... goodnight!