The Circus is coming to town

It's that time again, birthday planning. Connor will be 5 this year and after 2 weeks of trying to convince him he doesn't want a Dinosaur party, we have SUCCESS!!

I searched online for birthday party themes and came across a CIRCUS PARTY....Perfect! here are the invites that I made with some inspiration from Armelle. I've got tons of things to make and plan out but this is something I love doing.

Here is the invites we sent out:

 I used red, green, yellow and orange cardstock and created the tickets on Micro Word 07 . I cut them out in the shape of a ticket.

 On the back of the ticket is a chance to redeem for an extra prize. They have to blow the balloon up and submit the password that is written on the balloon.
The tiny wording says ( disclaimer: password may self- destruct..)

To top it off I put the balloon in a small bag and stapled a "tag" to it. The tag was hand stamps with

" ONE ( THE COLOR OF THE BALLOON) BALLOON"

Wish me luck on the rest of the party planning. I will post picture of the party after we have it :-)

Boiled Peanuts

 I'm back from my month long hiatus, a well needed one at that. We enjoyed a family vacation down in SoCal and a couples getaway to the one and only SIN CITY. We actually made out with about $75 more then we had in the first part of the trip.

 Coming back to this COLD RAINY place I wanted to have something that reminded me of warmth.....that's where boiled peanuts come from. I lived in Georgia for about 5 years before I had my first boiled peanut and was hooked ever since. Georgia, Southern Georgia at that is a very warm place with corner boiled peanut stands, convenient store boiled peanuts, jarred boiled peanuts, canned boiled peanuts, all in different flavors and heat temps.

 Boiled Peanuts hands down are best in conjunction with either beer, cola, or SWEET tea. Traditionally they are eaten outside where it doesn't matter if wet shells are tossed or spit on the ground. Before I ramble more onto the recipe I used.

INGREDIENTS:
2lbs RAW or GREEN peanuts
1/4 cup Salt
2 Tablespoon Salt
1/4 cup Cajun seasoning

Only use peanuts that are green (uncured). Do not attempt this recipe with roasted peanuts.

 Wash unshelled peanuts in cold water until the water runs clear. Soak peanuts in water for 20-30 minutes. Put peanuts in large pot fill to 2 inches above peanuts, cover peanuts with water.

 Pour Salt and Seasoning

The normal salt/water ratio is:(Add 1 cup of salt per gallon of water.) but as you can tell I didn't do that. 

Cook, covered on high heat for about 4-7 hours. Some like firmer peanuts while other like softer one, it's up to you. After 4 hours taste test for both texture and salt.

Womansday.com

 Once they are done drain the water otherwise the peanuts with sit and absorb the salt and become over salted.  

nandyala.org

Freezing boiled peanuts:  Prepare peanuts as indicated above. Drain, allow to cool, and freeze in airtight containers. They keep indefinitely.

Canning Boiled Peanuts:  Prepare peanuts and brine the same as for boiling for immediate use.

Pack peanuts into jars to within one-half inch of the top, using equal weights of peanuts and hot brine (212°F).

Partially submerge containers in upright position in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Seal while hot and process 45 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. Cool containers in water, label, and store away from heat. 

 

Drinks and Quality time.

As many of you know, I'm a mother of 3 very energetic and crazy boys. Time for me is precious and very limited when it comes to things I want to do personally. After a crazy week Val and I NEEDED ( can you sense the urgency of that?) to get away from everything, unwind and have some girl talk. We hit up the local 'Red Lobster' and ate and drank till our hearts were satisfied.

most yummy food ever!

This is Val.

 I often feel like I don't do enough for my boys, that the time spent with them is not quality time. I have set it in my mind to take at least 30 minutes from my day to spend with each individual child and spend another hour with all 3 of them doing something fun and enjoyable.

It was play day in Aiden's room.

 So far I have noticed an improvement in their overall attitudes and I get more smiles now ( AWESOME!!) so maybe there is something to this quality time,huh? I just hope I remember to bring my camera out .

reading books are a fav in this family.

Things that make me lose my mind.

My husband

Dinosaurs

All my projects

Eating MISO soup because I can't sleep.

kids eating things off the floor.

THE END.

Legos and Guns

 LEGOS and GUNS. What is it about those two that appeals to boys? They build grand "daddy dragon mansions", planes, submarines, "ak40s" and turbos... They save mom, kill mom and rescue poor Indian children from communist while traveling through the jungle, no wait that was my grandmothers childhood story.

A Computerworld columnist writes:

There are a couple of truisms: Lego just goes on and on, and on… and, when it comes to guns, boys never really do grow up.  Some comments posted on the Brickarms forums: “I want human-sized Lego weapons”; “As a child, I always wished that Lego would come out with some grenades for my dudes to throw at each other”… and so on in similar vein.

Here's a snippet called Fathers & Sons from the Wall St Journal:

I can't shake the sense that boys are supposed to become manly. Rather than neutering their aggression, confidence and desire for danger, we should channel these instincts into honor, gentlemanliness and courage. Instead of inculcating timidity in our sons, it seems wiser to train them to face down bullies, which by necessity means teaching them how to throw a good uppercut. In his book "Manliness," Harvey Mansfield writes that a person manifesting this quality "not only knows what justice requires, but he acts on his knowledge, making and executing the decision that the rest of us trembled even to define." You can't build a civilization and defend it against barbarians, fascists and playground bullies, in other words, with a nation of Phil Donahues.

 Everyday they talk about saving the world and mom from doom. They talk about being like daddy, diving deep in the ocean and using guns to shoot the bad guys. Often I find myself encouraging these rough manly attributes and although that is a quality woman look for, we look more for those that are respectful, have pride, honor and courage.

My husband  thankfully has all these attributes to instill in the boys. These are things they will learn as they grow, through trial and beatings  errors but for now they need to enjoy this part. CHILDHOOD... because as we all know, it goes by too fast.

I do love watching them build castles, guns and the lot.

Apple-Oat Cookies

INGREDIENTS :

3/4 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour 
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Old-Fashioned Oats
1 medium Apple, peeled and shredded ( about 1 cup shredded)

 1) Heat oven to 375, use a cookie mat, parchment paper or cooking spray on cookie sheet. In large bowl, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until creamy. Beat in vanilla and eggs, scraping the sides until blended.

2) In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. gradually beat flour mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in apple and oats. Onto cookie sheet, drop dough be rounded 1 inch scoops, 2 inches apart.

Plays jeopardy music in head....

3) Bake about 9-10 minutes or until edges are LIGHT golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from sheet and cool on rack.

These are the most moist delish cookies, there is no way you will mess these up. If you do...there is no hope for you, j/k

Military Family Pictures- T Family

I have the wonderful privilege of knowing this family. I have never felt so welcomed and loved as a person, as a friend, as a military wife as I feel with this family. The "T's" have been through a LOT over the past year but have come out stronger.

They were great sports during this very cold day, our conditions outside dewindled with each passing minute. I had a wonderful time shooting this family.

:)

Foot steps walked so many times.

She drops him off at the pier but takes him with her always

Thanks guys :)