Butterfly Treats

With Easter this weekend I decided we could make some little goodies for friends and family.  

I found this idea in Family Fun magazine.

Trail Mix Butterflies
What a great way to also welcome Spring!
We gathered our supplies...Which included:
Clothespins
Glittered Puff Paints
Googly Eyes
Snack Baggies
Pipe Cleaners

 First we painted the clothespins with the puff paints.

 Zoie helped me out and she did a great job but I helped her out too.

 

When we were all done painting we had to let them dry.

I picked up several goodies to fill the snack bags.
Dried Bananas
Honey Roasted Peanuts
Almonds
Mixed Nuts
Craisens
Dried Apricots
Chocolate Chips

I filled a muffin tin to make it easier to fill the bags.

We added a bit of each item to the bag until the bag was about 1/2 full.

I had to go quickly otherwise my helper was going to eat all the supplies...

We filled 25 Snack bags.

Back to the clothespins...After the paint had dried I added the googly eyes.  Then I assembled the beautiful butterflies.

(It looks like the bag is FULL but it really isn't...all the stuff is just spread out).

Now we have some goodies to give to others on Easter. 

You could fill the bags with all sorts of things.  We just used what sounded good to us and we had a lot of fun doing it too.

Project 52: Dating My Spouse--6

Chilling out and Watching a Movie

My hubby forgot that he had one more week to plan a date...I reminded him a couple of days before.  
It was a great a simple date that he planned...Rob is such a sweetheart and he brought home New Moon.

 We sat on the couch together and snuggled up under a blanket to enjoy the movie.
Just being able to settle down and be together was wonderful.  Sometimes our lives get so busy with work, our daughter and all the stuff that needs to be done around the house that we don't take the time to just be together.  
As I said...Simple but Wonderful.

Friday is Here!

It's another BEAUTIFUL Friday!

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Easter is Almost Here

Easter is just over a week away and I haven't planned anything yet.  Wow...time flies and I always wonder where it went.  

I need to get moving on my Easter shopping but I need some ideas of what to get my 2 year old daughter.  I want her to be able to hunt easter eggs but I definitely don't want her to have all the candy.  First of all, let me tell you that I am an RDH (Registered Dental Hygienist) so candy isn't very appealing to me because I know what it does to teeth.  Second of all, it isn't healthy and I want my family to learn to make good choices and know that there are alternative ways to celebrate the holidays. 

 Here is what I have come up with to put in eggs:

• Money (Zoie loves to put coins in her piggy bank and it encourages saving)
• Play jewelry (Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings)
• Gold Fish Snacks
•  Fruit Snacks
• Stickers
• Socks or Tights
• Underwear
• Hair Accessories 
• Packets of flower seeds that we could plant together

 Those are the ideas I have so far....Got any great ideas to add?  Have an idea for boys? Please leave a comment and I will add them to the list. 

(Zoie's first Easter)

Project 52: Dating My Spouse--5

Cooking and Games

My husband told me he wanted to make this trifle for our date night.  It was a recipe that a friend had brought to a game night.  Unfortunately she was on vacation and we couldn't get the recipe from her.  

I came across a recipe for Samoas Bars that are supposed to be just like the girl scout cookies.  I don't like Samoas but I know that my hubby loves them.  I suggested we make these instead and it didn't take anything to convince him.

We started cooking in the kitchen together.  We work pretty well as a team. 

Since there are several parts to making the Samoas Bars we played some games.  The cookie had to bake and the coconut had to toast then both had to cool. 

 We has some friendly competition as we played Neighborhood Games on the Wii.  

Included in this game are 24 family games.  We played shuffleboard, lawn darts, bocce, RC trucks, ladder ball, and horseshoes.  Honestly we tried to play horseshoes and we just couldn't get the hang of it so we moved on to another game.  

The only game that I was good at was ladder ball.  For some reason he just couldn't get the hang of it but it was alright because he beat me at everything else we played...he was even beating me at horseshoes before we moved on.  
After the cookie and coconut were cooled we finished the bars.

Unfortunately the bars didn't turn out because our flour had gone bad so they didn't taste good at all.  We ended up throwing them and the bad flour out.  
I do have to say that I didn't even know that flour could go bad but when I looked it up online I found out that it only has a shelf life of about 6 months in a tightly sealed container and about a year in the freezer.  
All in all we enjoyed the time we spent together laughing, baking, competing, and just having a good time.

I look forward to reading about all of the great date night ideas posted on Simply Modern Mom.  If you want to join you can check out all the details on this site also.  Blog about your dates and add them to the list of links every Tuesday.

 

It's Friday and I am Following!

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Project 52: Dating My Spouse--4

Movie Night

In most areas going to the movies is outrageously priced.  We happen to be lucky.  There are about 4 theater locations around us that are a an awesome deal.  For two people it is $11.00 (and that is not matinee pricing.) 
We went to see Alice in Wonderland.

 I didn't really want to see it because I thought that the previews made it look creepy. But Rob really wanted to go and this was another date planned by him so I willingly went.  I have to say that I was not really impressed.  I was also totally surprised by how many young children were in the theater (like 2-3 years old).  In my opinion the movie would have been a bit scary for a toddler but every kid is different.  We had a great time being together anyways.

 Oh did I mention that you get a free soda with admission.

And free popcorn if you bring in one of their buckets (which I think cost $2.00 the first time you buy them).

So for $11.00 you get 2 admissions, 2 sodas, and 2 popcorns.  What a Bargain!  Refills on both are $0.50 each.
After the movie we took a stroll to see if the local Dairy Queen had opened for the season but they were still closed.  
All in all we enjoyed being together.
I look forward to our next date...Rob said he was going to plan the next 2 dates also.  Yipee!

Peach Crunch Cake Remodeled

I saw what looked like a great and simple recipe over at Bakerella.  It is for a Peach Crunch Cake.  
Original Ingredients: 

24.5 oz jar of sliced peaches in light syrup (I used two 15 oz jars and it worked fine)
1 package yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into 16 pieces or so
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

I am not a huge fan of walnuts or many nuts for that matter.  I omitted the walnuts and used 1/2 cup of Oatmeal and 1/2 cup of toffee bits.


What to do:
Empty peaches and syrup into 9X13 Pan.

Cut up the peaches into chunks.

Spread the dry cake mix over the peaches and syrup.

Put the butter slices all over the top of the cake mix.

Brown sugar goes next.

 Layer the Oatmeal.

Then top it off with the delicious toffee bits.

It should look something like this.  Yummy, Yummy!  Can't wait to eat some.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
It should come out looking scrumptious.

Serve hot or cold with ice cream or without.

So super simple!  And great tasting too!
I hope you enjoy!

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