Sunday, February 20, 2011

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

Instructions
½ cups water (add more water later if required)
½ cup oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup oats

Directions
Blend wet ingredients together. Whisk dry ingredients together and mix into wet mixture to form a ball of dough. Roll out and shape. Put onto a non-stick cookie tray or lightly greased one. Cook 20 minutes at 400 F. Turn off oven and allow the biscuits to cool in oven until crisp and hard. Store in airtight container.



Biscuit Donuts

Biscuit Donuts
My husband shared this recipe with me years ago, it's from his Boy Scout days.

Ingredients
Refrigerated Biscuits
Vegetable oil

Directions
Preheat deep fryer to 375 degrees. Open biscuits, separate, place a hole in the center. You can use the holes for donut holes or roll them into a few large donuts.

Have an adult place the doughnuts in the deep fryer one at a time. As you see them browning on one side, carefully flip them over and let them brown on the other side. Once both sides are brown remove from oil and let cool on a paper towel, you can then coat the donuts (powder sugar, cinnamon & sugar, glaze, chocolate frosting...)





Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine's

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, I'm sure it doesn't help that my birthday is two days later and knowing that I'll be showered with love, happiness and smiles at that time; however two years ago Valentine's took on a new meaning. On February 9, 2009 my husband and I were ecstatic to find out we were pregnant, a few short days later I started bleeding (not spotting, bleeding with clots), I frantically called my OB/gyn. Every other day for the next few days I was at the doctors' having blood test done, on February 14th I received a phone call from the practice informing me my hCG levels weren't rising like they should, they wanted to see me early morning on February 16th (my birthday) for another blood test and ultrasound in the afternoon. The doctor then tells me that they believe since my numbers did go up slightly that most likely it's an ectopic pregnancy, ending the conversation with a HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. February 16th I rushed to the lab, had blood drawn then impatiently waited by the phone; around noon my OB/gyn called with the BEST birthday present ever...the hCG levels more then doubled, the baby I was carrying was growing in my uterus! That night my birthday dinner turned into a celebration of life, after everything we had been through the previous week we decided not to wait any longer and share the news with our parents (my mom already figured it out). God answers prayers, today that little baby I thought for sure I had lost is now a happy, healthy, smiling, curious little 15 month old; "I love you yesterday, today and tomorrow too"!



I cheated on Valentine’s cards this year; I’ve been extremely busy (more on that below) and needed a craft that wouldn’t require a lot of time, off to A.C. Moore we went. I found Creative Hands sm’ART Kit, it made 24 “Glitter Too Cool Hearts” and best part according to Benjamin…STICKERS! Benjamin placed the sticker faces on the hearts, on the back of he drew pictures for his friends and I wrote a short message wishing them a happy Valentine’s Day.



On the menu for Valentine's Day
Breakfast- Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
Lunch- Heart Shaped Peanut Butter Sandwiches & Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake (my husband made the cheesecake for me for a family dinner on Saturday)
Dinner-
Braciole
Dessert-
Raspberry Souffle


I’m thrilled to announce that I accepted a job offer and begin working on Monday, I’m beyond excited to be back in my career but it is also accompanied by anxiety when I think about being away from my babies 40 hours a week. To slightly help ease the anxiety, I’ve loved on my boys extra special this past week and planned special activites together. One of the days we went to Babies R’ Us and Build A Bear to pick up a leave at the sitter fuzzy blankie for Hayden and a Bear for Benjamin. Since I’ll be missing out on early afternoon cuddles and story time I picked up All the Ways I Love You, this will allow me to “read” to my babies while I’m at work.

My husband and I have solely raised the boys, I’m finding it difficult to hand the reins off to someone else for 6 hours a day. My sister is going to watch the boys; she’s WONDERFUL with kids making this process a lot easier! I can honestly say I'm not worried about leaving them with her, I know Benjamin will be just fine (daily interaction with other kids his own age will do him good) but Hayden is a MAJOR mommy’s boy and has been clinging to me for dear life (he knows something is up); Hayden has only known me as a stay-at-home mom. We have Benjamin on the waiting list for a 2-3 day a week full day preschool program, which I think he’ll really enjoy.

I’ve enjoyed and cherished the time I’ve had with my boys, being there for their firsts and I’ll miss the field trips, crafts, afternoon cuddles, play dates, etc. But I’m ready to start my career again (I paid a lot of money for a degree and I don’t want to lose my skills) and I truly believe in my heart that this is the best thing for everyone in my family.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Baggie Painting

February means oodles of birthdays; today I gathered my assembly line (aka kids) for card making day. Hayden did great finger painting, for oooo...two minutes, and then began eating the paint. It just didn’t seem fair that he couldn’t join in on card making day; I remembered hearing or reading about a fun activity for little hands, unfortunately I can’t give credit where it is due since I can’t remember where I heard about this activity. Take a plastic sandwich bag, fill it with paint, seal and let your little one mush the colors inside the bag together with their fingers.


My little artist


Apparently paint is yucky!


Honest mommy, I wasn't eating paint!


Baggie Painting


Snow Fun

Young children love snow but they usually don’t love being in the cold for every long. Here are some ideas that you can do inside.
Toddler Gym

Paint Snow- Lay snow on a tray. Let your child paint the snow with watercolors.

Shaving Cream Snow- Give your child shaving cream to play with on a table. This is an excellent way to begin drawing shapes and letters! Beware…this is messy but smells great!

Cotton Ball Snow- Have a snowball fight with cotton balls! Try to see who can get the most cotton balls across a line or into a bucket. You can even use sand toys for shoveling!

Happy Snow Day!