How Do You Celebrate Valentine's Day?

It's one week until my favorite holiday.  For some reason, I've always LOVED Valentine's Day.  My mom use to put together small gifts for us to open when we woke up.  Maybe that had something to do with it.  Or maybe it's the colors?  I love the combination of pink+red, and I remember loving that combination as far back as elementary school.  Or maybe it's the hearts?  I love hearts - so much so that I have one tattooed on my right foot.  Or it could definitely be the abundance of chocolate that time of year.  Nothing is better than Stephen Libs chocolate (in my opinion!).  Or the flowers, or the candy hearts, or the cheap paper valentines with cheesy messages.......... I just LOVE everything about this holiday. 

I wanted to spread some love to some of my favorite little girls this year.  I had a stash of Valentine fabric that I hadn't done anything with, so I decided to make my girls and nieces pjs pants and/or skirts.  They had those cute red initial shirts from Christmas (I ironed on their initial), so I was hoping they could pair their new bottoms with those shirts!

I also made some Valentines cookies and put together little bags (or a box in one case) for them. 

What are your plans for Valentine's Day?  We are sticking to our routine and going to church that evening.  Hopefully sometime that weekend, Kevin and I will get to escape for a lunch or dinner out by ourselves.  We decided our mutual gift to each other is Charlie (our new kitten).  My kids also think chocolate covered strawberries are the greatest treat on the earth (and I kind of agree), so I want to make some of those for them.  I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day this year!

Morphe Eye Shadow

I ordered this palate of eyeshadow on January 1st.  I was excited to try this brand because I've heard good reviews and it's very affordable!  It was back ordered the whole month of January and I didn't get it until the very end of the month.  I've had a lot of fun mixing and matching and trying new colors :) I also have been using an eye shadow primer, and that + these eye shadows end up lasting all day!  I have to use my eye make up remover at night to get it off because that primer works so well - or maybe it's because the shadow is so pigmented.  Either way, it's a great combination!

Austin helped me pose - but my eye shadows were very neutral golds/browns.  I didn't get too wild the first time I tried it!

 

I used some pinks and purples and gold this day.  I liked how it turned out!

 

If you were curious about my eye primer, I use the Sephora brand. 

Valentines stained glass craft

Here's another fun Valentines day craft!  

I used my heart punch and punched out little hearts from a multipack of tissue paper.   I found out the punch works better when you use 4-5 sheets of tissue paper at a time, instead of just 1 piece!

 

I gave each girl a pile of hearts.  I smeared elmers glue onto wax paper.  I had them put their hearts into the glue.  

 

When they were done, I filled in some blank spaces with extra hearts.  It took them a couple hours to dry.  When they were dry, I cut a heart shaped frame from some heavy white paper.  (Sorry, no pics of this step - I did it during nap time while I was also working on sugar cookies!)  I glued the heart to the tissue paper hearts. 

I trimmed off the extra around the edges, and voila!  I hung them on my front door and the girls are so proud of them :)

(the heart frame is actually white, but it photographed black for some reason!)

Pom Pom Painting

We are having fun with another little girl here everyday :) And the picture above has nothing to do with this craft, I just caught the girls getting books off of my bookshelf.  Allie is reading the dictionary, Eleanor is reading the 5 Love Languages, and Krissy is reading the ABC's of Financial Freedom.

I frequently browse Pinterest for cute craft ideas to do with the girls.  Austin usually naps during our craft time.  For this pom pom painting, I cut out a heart shape from some heavy white construction paper.  I pinched a pom pom with a clothspin, and put color coordinating paints on a paper plate.  I told the girls to dot their hearts with the paints.  Allie got the concept, Krissy smeared her paint everywhere, and Eleanor did a good job dotting!  It wasn't a very messy craft, but I did keep wet wipes close by to clean off hands. 

We let the hearts dry for about an hour.  I punched a small hole in the top of the heart and hung a red string from them.  They are now decorating the ends of my curtain rod.  

When Hayden got home from school, he decided he needed to make one.  His turned out really cute too. 

Homemade Mashed Potatoes

I have made this recipe about a half dozen times over the last few months.  We love it!  Although, I can't say I've ever eaten a mashed potato recipe that I didn't like.  These are cheesy and garlicy, and you can't help but love them!  I'm also a fan of doubling the recipe because they reheat really well!

This photo is from the site I found the recipe.  I can never remember to take a picture of them when I make them, but they look just like this!

Recipe source:  Delicious as it Looks
Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cut into cubes, skin left on (or off if you'd prefer that!)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large pot. Add enough water to cover the potatoes. Stir in 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer about 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, sour cream, Parmesan cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
3. When potatoes pierce easily with a paring knife, remove from heat and drain. Add potatoes to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix on medium speed until mostly smooth (there may be some lumps, but we usually don't mind that). Serve.

Krissy's Short Locks

The girls flower girl dresses came in this week and we were excited to pick them up!  When they tried them on, I couldn't help but love how Allies bob cut looked with the dress!  I had thrown around the idea of cutting Krissy's hair ever since Allie got hers cut, but I just hadn't done it.  Dress shopping gave me the motivation I needed to chop those scraggly little curls off.  She was a little wiggly for the cut but she loved getting it done!

I know it's blurry, but I love her expression!

When I tried to get a picture of the back, she kept doing some dance moves!  Her ends are a lot like mine. They have a mind of their own!  I'm going to take her and Allie to get a real trim before the wedding!  

And since we are on the subject of hair, I've been looking for some easy updos that I can do with my hair.  When I came across this look, I busted out laughing.  This "sexy style" is what my morning bed head looks like everyday.  Who knew it was one of the latest hairstyles?! Ha!

Homemade Granola Bars

I'm so excited to share this recipe!  I stumbled upon it on Pinterest.  I was actually looking at a bread recipe on a lady's blog, and she had popular posts attached to the bottom on the page.  It was a recipe for homemade granola bars.  They looked really good, but I haven't heard many great things about homemade versions.  It seems every homemade recipe I ever looked at resulted in a crunchy granola bar.  I like chewy, not crunchy, and I'm brand loyal to the Sunbelt ones with the mini chocolate chips.  I didn't really have high hopes for the recipe, but her writing about the recipe convinced me it was worth a try.

I actually made these twice.  The first time I didn't have the right oats {old fashioned}, so I substituted {quick cooking}.  And I also wanted to use my Peter Pan Peanut Butter instead of an all natural one.  The end result was good.  I didn't hear a single complaint.  They were a good consistency, but they were super sweet.  When I was reading the comments on the ladies blog, she said she recommened using an unsweeted peanut butter because they would be super sweet if you didn't.  She was right!

Attempt #1

I couldn't wait to make them a second time.  When I first started, my peaunt butter mixture wasn't looking smooth and creamy like it did with my first attempt, and it was a darker color.  I whisked my hardest, and the mixture was still a big clumpy.  I decided clumpy was ok and finished off the recipe.  Turns out, you can't even tell the mixture wasn't silky smooth.  I LOVE this second version of the recipe with old fashioned oats and natural peanut butter!  My kids preferred the first version, so I think the next time I make them, I'll do half old fashioned oats and half quick cooking.  I'll probably also do half sweetened peanut butter and half unsweetened peanut butter!  The options are endless!

Attempt #2 was SO GOOD

I was blown away that this little treat was so tasty and there was no added sugar, or corn syrup, and they are relatively healthy!  My kids love them, my husband loves them, and anyone that's tried mine has loved them, so don't be afraid to try them! 

Source: FiveHeartHome

Ingredients:

1 C peanut butter (I used PB2 because it's what I had)

1/2 C honey

1/2 C coconut oil

2 1/2 C old fashioned oats

1 C coconut

toppings of your choice (I used mini chocolate chip and walnuts)

Directions:

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.  Melt peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil over medium-low heat in a large pan.  Whisk until smooth (or as smooth as you can get it).  Remove from heat and add oats and coconut.  Press mixture into the parchment lined pan.  Add toppings and press to set them into the granola bars.  If using chocolate chips, immediately press chips into the mixture.  They will melt if you don't do it immediately.  Refrigerate for 2 hours, then cut into bars.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

If you aren't familiar with PB2, it's a powdered peanut butter you can buy at Walmart.  It's with the other peanut butter.  You just add water.  To make 1 C, I used 16Tbsp powder and 8 Tbsp of water.  It's all natural and good! 

One side note, I chopped up my 1 C of coconut in the food processor.  I didn't want my kids complaining about weird white things in the bars, and they didn't even notice them!

Charlie Update

Late Saturday afternoon, I received an email with updated pictures of our little Charlie!  

I'm already so obsessed! Xoxo sweet Charlie!

Oh The Places She Will Sleep

Krissy has been fighting her afternoon naps.  Over the last two weeks she's fallen asleep in strange places. Here's some photo proof!

This is inside my bedroom door.

The loveseat

The hallway.

She's normally happy with or without a nap, but I still feel like she needs one.  Maybe I need her to nap more than she needs to nap ;)

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

The day after the kids started to feel better, Allie requested biscuits and eggs for breakfast.  It sounded great, but I didn't have any biscuits here, and I wasn't going to Walmart.  I quickly searched allrecipes.com and found a biscuit recipe to try. 

I was so impressed with these yummy little biscuits!  I actually ate the leftovers for lunch and dinner!  They were so soft and tender and everything I could ever want in a biscuit.  I made them again just to make sure they were as perfect as I thought.  And they were!

Here's my slightly adapted recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Melted butter to brush ontop

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture is coarse. Gradually stir in buttermilk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Don't over mix or the biscuit will become tough.
   
   
   
   

   
   
3. Turn out onto floured parchment paper, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat dough to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.  I actually used my silpat liner and it worked beautifully!
   
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   
4. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven and brush melted butter ontop of each biscuit.
   
   We topped our biscuits with turkey sausage and gravy!  It was a hit at our house!