Ice...

Denver got hit with a BIG snow storm over the weekend, and I took advantage of the ice to practice some photography skills.

I'm finding that I'm starting to look at the world just a little differently...I notice things I never did before, and that I often wish I had my camera just a little bit closer on hand. When I had those thoughts the other day, I took advantage of a quiet minute or two and DID grab the SLR and snapped a few shots...

Hope you enjoy some of them!

LEGO Birthday Party...

I'm not sure what I was thinking...having 10 7 year-old boys over for 2 hours for a birthday party...at MY house...but we had BIG plans...LEGO plans.

Half-pint wanted a LEGO party so I got on-line to come up with some fun ideas and themed out the entire party (at least in color: red, blue, yellow). Here's what we came up with:

Lego mini-figure cupcakes (chocolate-both mini-figures and cupcakes)

Lego Mini-figure coloring bodies, with marshmallow heads

Brick shaped chocolates

Scavenger Hunt lego photo game

Lego short movies to watch

Random brick to build and create

Mini Lego police motocycles for goodie bags

We topped the party off with cheese pizza for dinner and the "pop the balloon on your ankle game" (which was an EXCELLENT way to keep 10 boys busy for a good 20 minutes!!!

I didn't get any photos of the actual party...I was too busy keeping things moving so everything did not deteriate into total chaos in mere seconds!

Overall, it was a fun evening for everyone (I was exhausted by the end...but all the boys had a great time!)

Sassy Wonton Tacos

I made sassy wonton tacos today for lunch.  They were fantastic!  Jade loved them.  I don't know the exact proportions. Here is the recipe!
Ingredients:
wonton skins (about 20)
chopped cabbage
cooked chicken (about 1 breast shredded or cut into small pieces)
can of great northern white beans
cilantro (chopped about 4 or 5 tablespoons)
poppyseed dressing
touch of bbq sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Take a deep side baking dish, spray the inside and out with cooking spray.  Drap the wonton skins over the baking dish diagonally so that it forms a taco shape.  Bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes.   Mix together: chicken, beans, chopped cilantro.  Take the wonton skins out of oven fill with the filling.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Plate tacos on a bed of cabbage with poppyseed dressing.  Put a touch of BBQ in each taco.

Theses are seriously good!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Yesterday I tried to make cinnamon roll pancakes.  I used the recipe from Recipe Girl.  They look fantastic and so fun! My attempt did not turn out as well as the ones on the Recipe Girl blog.  I used wheat flour instead of white.  I also substituted margarine for butter which is where I think I went wrong.  I couldn't get nice swirls.  But they tasted really good!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes | RecipeGirl.com

Christmas Stockings

Christmas stockings and advent calendar!  Glad I got them finished before Christmas!

Halloween Treats and Homemade Costumes...

The other two Halloween projects I tackled this year were these cookies from Our Best Bites (find the original post here).

It's a super easy way to make great looking cookies!!! They have two slightly different recipes listed in the original post; I used the William Sonoma recipe and doubled it to completely fill a standard sized loaf pan. I had a little trouble getting the chilled dough out of the loaf pan-I think next time I'll line the bottom with wax or parchment paper and at least two layers of plastic wrap. Other than that, I can't say enough good things about these cookies. (I think I'll make more at Christmas-using red or green food coloring!) I made them for Aiden's school party and they were a HIT!!! All the moms were duly impressed and the kids just liked having cookies!

I actually MADE the boys Halloween costumes this year! I'm not sure what got into me...and it wasn't as big a headache as I expected. I'm pleased with the results---I thought they looked great!!! Since I didn't use a formal pattern (and made my own patterns instead) there were a few mistakes that I had to go back and fix, but overall, it was fun and very fulfilling to see the projected idea turn into reality!

The Super Mario Brothers (Luigi in green and Mario in Red) and our friendly little Garden Gnome

*Check out my other blog to see another costume picture*

Halloween Creepy...

This year I've gotten into the Halloween spirit more than I did last year.

HE was the reason for the lack of Halloween treats and projects in 2010. Now, that I'm NOT in the grips of utter exhaustion that only comes from a newborn, I've tackled a few festive projects.

One was in the kitchen...

I saw this on another blog and knew immediately that I needed to try it. To see the original post on Mel's Kitchen Cafe, click here. I made a minor adjustment (to the flavor/color of the jello-I used raspberry instead of grape) which, I think made them even better than the original!!!

Aiden "helped" me make them (he mostly watched and did a little stirring- and bumped my arm while I pored) and he LOVED every minute of it! Brandon was a little more apprehensive when he saw the finished product; but when he realized it was jello-he quickly got over the grossness. Caleb-he wouldn't even try them-he immediately spit out the little piece I put in his mouth.