Sleeping Beauty v.2 (And A Little About A Cool Magazine)

Another nap snapshot of Ella. Yes, she fell asleep with her magazine over her face. She went down fighting!

The magazine is a Highlights magazine called High Five that is geared specifically for children 2-6 years old and WE LOVE IT! I can't recommend the magazine highly enough. Ella, who will be 3 in July, reads them over and over (and over and over and over) and goes to the mailbox every single day looking for another one. The magazine includes: read-aloud fiction stories—including stories that introduce the Spanish language; a special Hidden Pictures® activity and other puzzles; age-appropriate crafts and cooking activities; poems and simple nonfiction; finger plays and action rhymes (that's all from the website).

Ella's favorite part of the magazine is the Hidden Pictures portion -- basically a simply "I Spy" or "Where's Waldo" spread. She loved them so much that I signed her up for the Highlights Hidden Playground Club (they are full of Hidden Pictures) and those have been a huge hit.

We've also done many of the crafts and made most of the recipes in the High Five magazine -- all at Ella's request. I was really surprised the first time she brought me a recipe asking to make it (Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles). I thought she'd forget about them, but she didn't so we made them!

The subscription isn't cheap at almost $30/year (Ella's grandma (Babcia) bought it for her), but I still highly recommend it. Our magazines are getting worn out from all the reading we do with them. A subscription would make a great birthday or Christmas gift.

I don't make any commission on the product -- I just happen to love it and so I wanted to share!

Melt In Your Mouth Cinnamon Rolls

I've been making homemade cinnamon rolls for about 4-5 years now using a recipe out of the book Miserly Moms (my book is about 15 years old, I think). Those rolls in a tube have NOTHING on homemade rolls! Yesterday I needed to make some rolls for my women's Small Group this morning, but I didn't have time to start from scratch. I did, however, have some of this dough in the fridge so I gave it a whirl.

I ended up with the best, melt in your mouth, OMG delicious cinnamon rolls I've ever eaten (or made!). My sister and husband agreed that I could make serious cash selling those puppies.

I intended to make "mini" rolls (easier to keep the kids happy without so much sugar), but they ended up way bigger than I intended (still on the smaller side). I pulled out about 1/4 of the batch of dough and rolled it out on the counter to about 14 inches long and 6 inches wide. Next I spread roughly 2 Tablespoons of butter over the dough (using a small off-set spatula). Then I sprinkled about 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1-3 Tablespoons of cinnamon on the dough. I rolled it up, and sliced it about every 1/2 inch or so. I put the slices in an 8X8 lightly greased square cake pan, covered it with plastic wrap, and let them rise for about 3 hours. I baked them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes (in the toaster oven). When the came out of the oven, I immediately spread vanilla frosting on them (homemade cream cheese is better, but I was in a pinch and a rush). I let them cool in the pan, covered with foil, and took them this morning (the second pan was inhaled last night by the adults in my home).

Trust me, you will not be sorry you made these. Well, you might be sorry when you eat the entire pan yourself, but you know what I mean.

Dinner Disaster

Have you ever had one of those dinners that just plain bombs? Usually for me a bombed meal involves a new recipe or difficult kids distracting me. But yesterday, the Pizza in a Pot was just not happening.

I had planned a Crock Pot meal because my son had to go see a surgeon (outpatient surgery next week). I got all the pieces of the dish together by 1 PM and turned the Crock Pot on at 2 PM so that it would be done around 5 PM.

We got home from the doctor around 4:30 PM. I had turned the Crock Pot on, but had not plugged it in.

So I turned it on and we went out to eat (I wimped out. I could've thrown something together, but I was tired, frustrated, and hungry.).

At 7 PM my husband asked if he should turn the Crock Pot off. I told him no, I wanted to wait until 7:30 PM.

At 8:45 PM I realized I hadn't turned off the Crock Pot yet! So I went over to check it and took off the lid to let it cool.

At 9:15 PM I heard some gurgling noises. I had taken the lid off the Crock Pot but had not TURNED IT OFF!

The very well done Pizza in a Pot is now in the fridge for lunch. And I'm really hoping the rest of the week's dinners go better!

BJ

One of our cats, BJ, has been a social butterfly lately. Ella was delighted to find him sitting in a tree outside our patio. He's been hanging around the kids a lot as well -- probably because Ella will sit as long as he wants and pet him. That's Sarah on the phone with Daddy -- she was saying "CHEESE", I promise!

Sleeping Beauty

We've started a new nap time recently after learning that Ella was staying up ALL NIGHT LONG playing in her room. She now goes down for a one hour nap and I have to wake her up. I went in the other day and found her sleeping like this. I'll never complain about staying to read books!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's been a great day! I got to sleep in, haven't cooked a meal, received flowers and sewing lessons, and am looking forward to a ribeye steak dinner!

Hoping your day was as nice as mine!

P.S. The sweetest part of the day was when Ella came home with flowers for me and for her. My hubby always buys the girls flowers when he gets them for me. I love that about him!

Yummy, Kid Friendly Recipes

I recently found a new blog to love, Heavenly Homemakers. She has a few recipes I wanted to try so I made them both yesterday.

The first is super cool macaroni and cheese recipe. You cook the pasta in the milk and the starch from the pasta thickens the milk. Totally cool! Definitely my new go-to mac and cheese recipe.

The second recipe is for "Breakfast Cookies." I've been meaning to find a good recipe for these for a while. What kid doesn't want a cookie for breakfast? I was a bit doubtful that they would be filling, but they are! Ella loves, loves, loves them and they have good for you ingredients in them. A new staple for our breakfast menu! I put some mini-M&Ms in the cookies (just enough to keep her interested). These are also a bit "cakey" -- I'd say a cross between a muffin and cookie.