Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Reese's, Yumminess

A couple weeks ago the girls and I made this delicious, super yummy, chocolatey, peanut buttery, just want to have MORE, dessert called Candy Bar Brownie Trifle.  We used Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as our chopped candy bars.  You can pick any kind of candy bar or combination of candy bars to chop and add in.  Other options we considered were Hershey's Chocolate Bars and Snickers.

I gave the girls the job of candy unwrappers, and official candy testers.  They both were very happy with this job and gave it 100% effort... each of them testing several pieces of candy to be sure they tasted alright.

First, I baked a box of brownies according to the box instructions.  The brownies must cool completely before starting to cut and layer them into the trifle dish.

Next I whisked the milk and vanilla pudding mix together, then whisked in the peanut butter.  Then begin layering the ingredients... brownie bites, pudding mix, chopped candy, Cool Whip.

Repeat the layers and top with a bit more chopped up candy pieces if desired.

Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.  Simple and delicious! 

Candy Bar Brownie Trifle

1 pkg. (19.9 ounce) brownie mix

1 (6 serving size) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix

3 cups of milk

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3 1/2 cups chopped candy bars, 1/2 cup reserved for garnish

1 (16 ounce) thawed Cool Whip

Prepare brownie mix according to the pkg. for a 9x13 baking dish - allow to cool completely.  In a large bowl, whisk pudding mix and milk until slightly thickened.  Whisk in peanut butter until thoroughly combined.  Refrigerate pudding mix 10 minutes.  Break up brownies into small pieces and place half into bottom of the trifle dish.  Cover with half pudding mixture, half the candy, and half of the Cool Whip.  Repeat the layers and garnish with reserved candy.  Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Signature and Best Wishes Quilt

My sister got married last September.  A couple months prior to the wedding we had a friends and family wedding shower for her followed by a fun friends girls weekend in Colorado.  At each of these events I took pre-cut fabric squares and fabric markers with me.  Grey for the shower and yellow for the girls weekend.  Each person in attendance at these events was asked to use a fabric marker and write their words of marriage advice or congratulations and their name on one square.  I kept all of the squares and came up with a quilt design and lay-out for the signed squares, and got busy cutting, piecing, and sewing.  The quilt has recently been finished and will be on its way to my sister and her husband soon.  Just in time for it to be part of her birthday gift!

"May you have many wonderful years together." -Myron and Heather

"I love you.  You are the best.  Congratulations." - Sarah

"Be willing to compromise.  Best Wishes!" - Karen

"Never go to bed angry and Always kiss goodnight." - Christen

"Everything is ALWAYS better TOGETHER! ~laughing, living, loving~"  - Stacee

"Give and Take." - Marcia

Lindsee and EP, I wish nothing but the best for you both!  Of course, bad times will come, because they do.  But, when they do just remember to hold tight to each other, lean on each other, and take care of each other.  Together you will always be stronger, tougher, braver, and happy.  I love you both so much.  Congratulations on your marriage!

Daddy Daughter Dates 2014

In 2014 Eric started taking the girls on "Daddy Daughter Dates".  The girls would take turns going on a date with Daddy.  It is a time that each girl looks forward to when it is their turn to go on a date with Daddy.  When it is their turn they get to think of something fun that they want to go and do with Daddy.  Then Daddy picks the date on the calendar that works the best (with help from Mommy) and takes them!  This has been fun for Eric and the girls to do together.  They get to have one on one time and lots of attention from Daddy.

**GUEST BLOGGERS**

 ~ Eric and the girls ~ 

Saturday, April - Date with Sarah

Breakfast at Jimmy's Egg and Frog Catching

Close to our house are four ponds that have public access.  We found that there are many frogs to catch while walking around the ponds.  For our first date, Sarah wanted to go catch some frogs.  April is a great month to catch the frogs because they are not used to seeing people.  By late May they are much smarter and harder to catch.  Sarah is a very good frog catcher and so is Daddy.  No one else in the family likes to touch them.  It was also the first time for either of us to eat at Jimmy's Egg.  It was yummy.

Monday, June 30th - Date with Phoebe

Breakfast at McDonald's, Shopping, and the Humane Society

Phoebe told me that she wanted to look at dogs and cats on our date.  So, we decided to go to the Humane Society as part of our date.  She also likes to shop.  After eating breakfast together at McDonald's, and while we waited for the Humane Society to open, we went to the mall.  We found some good deals on Disney T-shirts for the kids and K-State sweatshirts for Mommy and Daddy.  At the Humane Society, we liked looking at all the dogs and cats.  There were a lot of them getting adopted that day.

Friday, July 18th - Date with Sarah

Wichita Wingnuts Baseball Game

Sarah played baseball for the first time this year.  We thought it would be fun to go to a Wingnuts game.  It was a Friday, so it was fireworks night.  The fireworks were impressive and the Wingnuts won a close game.  Sarah liked the advertisement for the Service Body Shop when the foul balls flew out of the stadium (cars beware of the foul balls at the Wingnuts games).

Friday, October 24th - Date with Phoebe
All Star Sports

None of us had ever been to All Star Sports and we had some coupons for free tokens, so Phoebe and I went to use them up.  Our favorite game was Deal or No Deal.  We always said No Deal until the last two briefcases and then we took the deal.  Phoebe played one of the airplane arcade games, which moved all around when she was flying.  With the tickets we won, Phoebe got a rubber duck, bracelet, bouncy ball, and a ring.

Literacy Night

About a week ago we attended a Literacy Night put on by the Early Childhood Center.  This was something that all preschoolers in our school district and their families got invited to.  When we arrived we were told that there were four stories to read together and an activity to complete that went along with each story.  The four stories that we got to read were "Where The Wild Things Are", "The Mitten", "The Three Little Pigs", and "The Snowy Day".

After reading "The Mitten" each child made a snowman that wore blue glittery mittens and boots.

After reading "The Snowy Day" each child built a snowman out of Rice Krispies treats, mini M&M's, Skittles, and an orange gumdrop.   Below, on the right is Phoebe's snowman treat.

Silas was extra excited to be given the treats and ate a few before he realized he was supposed to use them to build his snowman.  The snowman below on the left was Sarah's.  On the right is Silas with his finished snowman.

After reading "Where The Wild Things Are" each child painted a picture of a Wild Thing.

After reading "The Three Little Pigs" each child helped staple the cut out pigs, houses, and Big Bad Wolf to popsicle sticks so that they could use them to retell the story later.  When we got home all of these stick figures came alive in retellings of "The Three Little Pigs"... and other versions that Daddy and Sarah made up... that involved the Big Bad Wolf chomping up some LOTS of yummy pig meat.  Which then lead to Phoebe having a Big Bad Dream a night later.  She told me that in part of her dream there was the Grinch and the Big Bad Wolf, and the Big Bad Wolf came after her and tried to chomp her up.  This dream sounds sort of funny, but to her it was terrifying.  She woke up screaming and sobbing.  Poor girl.

At the end of the evening each preschooler got a gift of four books; One of each of the stories that we read that night.  This was a fun family night that we would recommend to others to attend with their preschoolers and young children.  All of our kids liked the activities that were planned and the stories were each a good length and held their attention.

Botanica

A few weeks ago, on an unusually warm January day, my parents came to visit.  The girls didn't have school that day so we went to Botanica to walk around and explore.  There was still snow on the ground, but don't let that fool you... temperatures were in the mid 60's that afternoon, with little to no wind.  It was B E A U T I F U L that day!

At Botanica there were several workers taking advantage of the nice weather to take down as many of the Christmas lights and decorations as they could before it got cold again.

We wandered around the paths and came to the children's area where the kids had fun making music, looking at giant bugs, and climbing on the huge treehouse/fort.

We found an indoor garden area and watched some goldfish swimming around their indoor pond.

It will be fun to go back again in the spring and summer and see what plants are blooming.  We are also looking forward to visiting the butterfly garden when it reopens in the spring.