Day 10: Snow Angel!

I think Candy Cane may be starting to get home sick............

She got into the sugar and made a "snow" angel! I think she misses all that north pole snow!

DIY: Candy Cane Wreath

I found this idea on Facebook and thought I'd give it a try.

 

According to the facebook post, you need:

• 20 candy canes {Arranged as above}
• Tie them two by two facing each other,...
• You can hot glue a decoration to the center to keep the ends together
• Glue small round ornaments to each set you tied.
• Hang with ribbon.

I decided to give it a try and this is my version:

 

This cost breakdown for my wreath is:

$1.63 for the candy canes

$3.33 for the small ornaments

$.33 for the center snowflake

 

Grand Total: $5.29

 

Day 9: Attack of the UNDIES!! LOL!

 

Our silly elf is at it again! She raided the littles underwear drawers and made a display of them on our tree!! She's so full of her little, elf self!

Day 8: She TP'd our tree!! :) :)

I swear, Candy cane can be such a sweet little elf like when she packed the kids lunches or when we found her reading about the birth of Jesus. BUT, every once in a while she likes to let her mischievous side out:

 

You see how we found her this morning? Rolled up in TP (toilet paper)!!!

But the kicker is how we found our tree...............

 

The silly little thing covered our 7 1/2 foot tree in TOILET PAPER!

 

Such a silly, naughty little elf!! :)

 

What has your elf been up to?? I'd love to see...........

 

Day 7: How many day's until christmas?

Candy cane gave ME us a friendly reminder of how many days there are until Christmas! Or in my case, how many days I left to finish up my Christmas shopping for the family & my kiddos!

Day 6: The story of Jesus' Birth {Candy Cane Style}

Candy cane was a silly elf yesterday, but today she was a good girl. We woke up this morning and found her like this:

 

Candy cane was sitting by the Christmas tree, reading about Jesus' birth in the bible!

She and I have the same, favorite verse:

 

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Day 5: Candy Cane is where?!?!?

That silly elf gave us all a good laugh this morning. I guess she got hungry and just couldn't help herself because we found Candy Cane like this:

 

 

Yep, she FELL into the cornflake box! At least she'll be full for awhile!! :)

Day 4: Santa says HI!!

My munchkins woke up to a special message from the north pole!!

Santa Says Hi!

Day 3 of Elf on the Shelf {Candy Cane Edition}

Our little elf can be mischevious sometimes, but not today! LOL!

This morning she was sweet...............

 

Candy Cane made lunch for the kiddos! And even left a sweet note that said:

 

Dear Jeremy/Taylor,

I hope you enjoy this lunch I've made you.
Have a great day at school!!

Love-
Candy Cane 

 

 

 

Candy Cane's at it again!

This silly little elf is back to her silly ways!

 

Sunday morning the kids woke up to a  nOrTh PoLe breakfast.

 

Then this morning, at 6 am, we found Candy Cane like this:

This silly little elf got into the littles candy bucket!! I guess everyone, especially elves, need their sugar "fix"! LOL!

Welcome Back.....Candy Cane!!

After finding Jessica's blog a few years ago, I couldn't resist having a North Pole Breakfast of our own to introduce our Elf on the Shelf. We started with our elf in 2011 and we're still going strong. We bring our elf out on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, except this year we brought her back on Sunday.

Saturday night, I Candy Cane set the table so all that was left Sunday morning was setting out the food before the kiddos woke up.

 

How cute is that?! If you're wondering about the boxes on the plates; those are gifts from Candy Cane!!! She never comes empty handed!

 

There's nothing super special in the boxes. This year each kid got a Santa wind up toy, a bible trivia card came, a new pair of Christmas socks, a tie Candy Cane Christmas tie for Jeremy & a Snowman Christmas scarf.

 

So, Sunday morning the kids woke up to this:

Rudolph's Red Nose Muffins (aka Strawberry Muffins), Cinnamon French Toast Sticks with Sprinkled Snow (aka powdered sugar), Snow Covered Donuts (aka Powdered Donuts) with Candy Cane Poles, & Iced Ginger Bread Men.

 

 

 

Their faces were adorable as usual when they seen the set up!

 

 

Another successful breakfast!!

 

If you do a north pole breakfast, I'd love to see it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple Cider Waffles & Sausage Balls...OH MY!

I have to say, this morning's breakfast was absolutely perfect! I've been scouring Pinterest for new breakfast ideas as I feel we eat the same thing over and over. I came across {THIS} recipe for Apple Cider Waffles and {THIS} recipe for Sausage Balls. I grew up eating the sausage balls but, I've never been quite sure how to make them--until now! :)

 

 

 

I cheated a bit with the waffles; I used 2c. bisquick and added a bit of cinnamon & the suggested 1 cup of cider from the original recipe. The sausage balls were beyond EASY!! All you do is just mix 2 cups of bisquick, 1c. of shredded cheese, and 1 pound of sausage together. Form into balls, and bake @ 350 for 17-20 minutes! Super simple and VERY tasty!!

Can you believe it????

 

Just a little over 2 months and Jolly 'ol St. Nick will be making his appearance!?!

 

HAVE YOU STARTED YOUR SHOPPING?

Crescent Roll Apple Pie Bites

On the dessert menu tonight are these beauties. You get 8 servings out of 1 apple.

 

Crescent Roll Apple Pie Bites:

-1 apple

-Brown Sugar

-Butter

-1 can crescent rolls

-Cinnamon

 

Slice your apple into 8 wedges (cored & seeded).

Unroll your crescent rolls into 8 separate triangles.

Melt your butter.

Brush the melted butter on the crescent rolls.

Sprinkle the brown sugar & cinnamon on the buttered crescent rolls.

Roll your apple up in the crescent roll.

Place rolls in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

 

These were a H.U.G.E hit in our house! The kids actually fought over who got the last one!

Creamy Cheesy Bacon Potato & Leek Soup

It's been a cold, dreary, and rainy day here in Concord today. I figured what better day to have soup--and potato soup at that! I headed over to my Pinterest board and found the perfect recipe for Potato & Leek Soup. It's super easy, click {HERE} for the recipe. In our house, we have to "jazz it up" as my kids like to say. So, we cooked up some bacon, crumbled it over the soup and added some cheese. VIOLA! Easy peasy!

 

What's your go to meal on a dreary, fall evening?

#FMSphotoaday {Day 2}: Light

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday's photo of the day since it was the hubby's birthday. We were out celebrating and didn't get home until late. So anyway, here is yesterday's photo of LIGHT!

#FMSphotoaday {Day 1}: Something Colorful

Something Colorful: The fruit bowl full of apples sitting on my kitchen table!

October Photo-A-Day Challenge

I've seen all the "photo a day" challenges all over Pinterest, so I figure I'll give it a shot. The list I'm following is from Fat Mum Slim. So, for the next 31 days, I'll post a picture from the list prompt. Won't you join me?

Here's the list {courtesy of Fat Mum Slim}
1. Something colourful: Find something beautifully filled with colour, take a photo and share it.
2. Light: This could be a street light, a lamp or another fitting, or it could be beautiful natural light streaming through the window, the sun anything. Play around with light. It’s beautiful.
3. You today: Share a photo of you today. Camera shy? Share an abstract pic of you: a reflection in a window, your feet, or some other way.
4. In motion: Movement! Take a photo of something in motion, perhaps a car driving by. Or you can use your phone and move it as you’re taking a photo. Explore this one a little.
5. Afternoon: How did you spend your afternoon today? At work? At play? Show us.
6. 8 o’clock: What were you doing at 8am or 8pm? We want to see your 8 o’clock.
7. What you saw today: Let us see the world through your eyes, what did you see today?
8. Corner: We stumble across lots of corners in our days, books, buildings, furniture, streets… show us one.
9. Pink: This is our charity prompt – share something pink.
10. Hands: Take a photo of some hands. Hot tip: They look beautiful in black & white.
11. M is for…: Find something starting with M and take a photo of it.
12. Below: This can be anything you want – something you see below something else. Use your imagination.
13. Watching: This one might be a bit tricky… is it something you’re watching? Someone watching something else? How will you interpret ‘watching’?
14. Favourite space: Where is your favourite space? A corner in your home? A seat in a quiet cafe?
15. Secret: Ssssh. Will you tell us a secret? Or show us a photo that represents secret?
16. Leafy: It’s Spring in Australia so the leaves will be abundant. If it’s Fall or Autumn where you are, will you be sharing a photo of the leaves fallen on the ground?
17. First world problem: First world problem is a problem that really isn’t a problem. Like ‘There’s too much goats cheese in my salad’ or ‘I can’t decide which of my 12 pairs of shoes to wear today’. Hard, yes. But potentially pretty funny.
18. Still: You could show a photo of still life, or life standing still.
19. A good day: What makes a good day for you? Try and capture it, and if you’re having a bad day – try and turn it around.
20. Open: Self-explanatory really. Find something open to share.
21. Then + now: This is a fun one, especially if you use an app to split your photo in two like PicFrame. It’s like a before and after. An example would be a piece of cake on a plate, and then the cake empty with just a few crumbs. Get it?
22. Change: Show us change – it could be money or it could be something that has changed.
23. Your mood today: How are you feeling today? How can you show that in a photo?
24. Dark: Maybe head out and shoot at night, or show something else dark.
25. Welcome: Is it a welcome sign or doormat, or another way to represent welcome?
26. Depth of field: This is our photography prompt. I’ll be writing a post on how to get it with your camera or smart phone. Keep an eye out.
27. Peaceful: What makes you feel peaceful?
28. Just for you: What’s something that is just for you that no one else can have?
29. Hair: It could be your own hair, a toy’s hair or on your animal… or otherwise!
30. Wet: Wet. It is what it is. How will you show it in a photo.
31. Treat: Happy Halloween. Share a photo of a treat, or your trick & treating.

Apple Picking with the Family

Remember a week or two ago I posted a FALL BUCKET LIST? Well, yesterday we marked off one the activities on the list---Apple Picking!

Ray and I took the kids to Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC! I have to say, the ride up was BEAUTIFUL!

 



This was our first year attempting this trip, and we were highly impressed.
When we arrived at the orchard it was busy, but everything was very organized. There were attendents out directing us on how/where to park (side note: parking & admission into the orchard are free!). We walked down to the main building to get our map of the farm and our basket for our apples and the staff was SUPER nice! Everyone was very friendly and more than willing to help with anything!

Once we got our basket & map, we headed out into the orchard.

 



Our first "stop" was at the Granny Smith trees. Bless Taylor's heart, she was too short to reach any apples so Ray had to hold her up into the tree! LOL!

 

 

 



 

Next stop was at the Arkansas Black Trees.

 

 

 

After our trip through the orchard, picking apples, we took the kids over to see the animals, explore the bamboo forest, and to feed the ducks!

 

 

After we did all of that, we took the kids up to the main building to get an apple cider slushie ($2/ea if you're wondering) and some fresh, hot, homemade apple cider donuts ($5 for 1/2 dozen) and let the kids play on the playground before we had to head back home.

 

Needless to say, we will definitely be going back every year!

 



 



31 Days of Halloween {Food Edition}

Cooking is a passion of mine. Add holiday {JOY}on top of that and WOW!!

The hubs says I get carried away around ANY holiday--I don't think so.

 

For the past 3 years I've done a NoRtH PoLe breakfast for Christmas. During that breakfast, our ELF makes her appearance. She brings along a couple goodies for the kids and everyone has a great time.

 

I figured for Halloween, I would do something similar. Only with Halloween, I want to do it ALL.MONTH.LONG! Crazy, I know!

 

 

My plan is to go as below:

1. Candy Corn Pizza
2. Used Bandaids
3. Orange & Black Pasta with Bones & Blood
4. Candy Corn Cupcakes
5. Jack-o-Lantern Burgers
6. Orange pancakes with spiderwebs
7. Dirt 'N Worms
8. Pumpkin Brownies
9.  
10. Apple Teeth
11.  
12. Jack-O-Lantern Quesadillas with Bloody Mary Soup
13. Mummy Sausage, Tombstone Hashbrowns with Spiderweb Pancakes
14. Witch Wands
15. Mummy Meatloves
16. Skeleton Cookies
17.  
18. Cauldron Cupcakes
19.  
20. Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkin Muffins (pumpkin muffins baked in pumpkin molds)
21. Spider Cookies
22. Chicken Pot Pie Pumpkies
23. Candy Corn Fruit Cups
24.  
25. Apple Cider Donuts
26. Mummy Dogs
27. Ghost Pancakes with Milk Shooters
28.  
29. Mini Pumpkin Pies
30.  
31. Snack-o-Lantern Fruit Cups
    
    I'm coming up short for 7 days! SO, if you have any suggestions feel free to comment & let me know! I'd love to know what YOU do for Halloween themed food!

Fall Bucket List

 

What's on YOUR bucket list for this Fall?!?!?!

September 7th, 2007

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the day this little stinker came into our lives....

 

 

Taylor Nicole was born on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 12:47 pm. This little chunk was a whopping 6 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long! September 7th was the day that our little family became complete!

 

 

Our princess @ 1 year old

Our 2 year firecracker

 

Our 3 year old prissy pants

Our 4 year old DIVA!

Our 5 year old tomboy

Our little girl is a 6 year old,  silly, rotten, spoiled by some--loved by all, tomboy, DIVA! We wouldn't have her any other way!!