Valentines Day Celebration - finally!

Since Olivia started high school, family dinners are not a given.  Valentines day was in the "no" column - but we sync'd  our calendars and discovered Sunday night was good!

By then, all those ridiculously overpriced roses are nearly free

Nearly dead too, (but I suspect they were this way on Valentines Day also.)

Our tradition is to make cards for each other.  I must say over the years we have gotten pretty good and very creative...

Liv took the prize for the origami lily card 

As anti-horder as my behavior can be, I have always saved our handmade cards.  We have quite a stack now, and it's so fun to look back each year.    

Yes, there are presents.

This year we tried chocolate waffles for dessert!  I'd love to show you a lovely picture of them stacked on a pretty plate with a scoop of ice-cream on top, but they didn't last long enough to snap a picture!

I'd give it a thumbs up - mix a devils food cake mix according to the package directions and pop in your waffle iron.  It wasn't very sweet (a plus in my book) but the ice-cream helped.

Hope you all got to share the day (or the next day...or the next) with the ones you love.

Beach House Fun

As promised, here are some of my shots from our beach weekend.  Every second the scene changed, I couldn't get enough!

Who needs snow ;)

Yes, coffee tastes better when this is your view!

I loved how the clouds looked like a giant wave

Hope that warmed you up a bit, or at least convinced you to come visit!

Do you want to build a snowman? - Frozen

In case you are one of the 4 people in the country that hasn't seen the new movie Frozen, here's a clip of one of the favorite, catchy, cute songs that we like to sing around our house!

Promise...you can walk up to any child anywhere and say...do you wanna build a snowman...and they will break out into this song (some adults too).

Well, thanks to Disney, Pinterest and some "more overachieving than me" moms, we came up with (stole) a cute idea for Emily's valentines!

assemble kits

Jumbo and regular marshmallows (cut in half)

Make sure everything is tasty!

Print the card (that little guy is Olaf...the very famous snowman from said movie)

Make a BUNCH!

Happy Valentines Day.

I know you are wondering where the photos of our big Valentines celebration are.  We have postponed that for another night this weekend.  Due to a scheduling snafoo, Olivia was getting her 11:30 am hair-cut at 5:00 last night.  

I'm happy for the extra time to prepare

As for the hair, it turned out beautifully.  Not that it wasn't before, but she wanted a color that was a little more edgy and less Catholic School ;)

Before

After

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Well, she eats a cupcake about the same...

Lots of changes in the last 15 years, but we couldn't be more proud of the smart, hard-working and kind person our girl is turning out to be.

Her friends at school had lots of gifts waiting for her!

Fresh fish tacos - as requested

And cake, can't forget the birthday cake.  Our friend Amy kindly pinned this beauty a few weeks ago.  So easy and delicious - mahalo Amy!

Remember the days of baking and frosting required to please little Miss Emily?  

Thank God for Olivia...ice cream sandwiches layered in a pan.  Drizzle (or pour) caramel and hot fudge on top.  Add a layer of strawberries (that was our idea but a great addition) and top with cool whip.  Back in the freezer for a yummy ice-cream cake in less than 5 minutes.

Wala!  

She still can't spell, but has a giant heart :)

Tada!  

We also surprised her with a weekend at a beach cottage.  Beautiful and relaxing.  Photos to come but here is a sneak peek at our morning coffee time..

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Emily's teacher had a fun idea this month.  Each child was selected to be "chef of the day" and on that day they had to bring in a dish that they made all by themselves.  

"All by myself Mom, that means ALL by myself."  

Yes Em, I get it.  

"Like you can't help me at all, I have to do everything!"  

Yeah honey, I'm familiar with the phrase.  

"The only thing you can do is put it in and out of the oven."  

Rodger Dodger.  I won't help you at all.  

Sheesh, where is all this independence when it's time to make her bed in the morning?

Her choice was Emma's bread pudding.  One of her all-time most favorite desserts ever.  Love it...rock and roll. 

But wait...if you call in the next 30 minutes, in addition to bringing in your dish, you can take photos of yourself making it, print them out, put them on a poster with the recipe and step by step directions.  Why do these cute things always have a catch or as I like to call it...mom homework?

Yeah,  "all by myself"  Ha.  I suppose you are going to drive to Target with your flash drive to get the photos, buy the poster board with your allowance and type up the recipe huh?  Ha.

The glitch in this plan is that her "chef" day was a Tuesday.  My fellow mom pals are freaking out right now, the rest of you will catch on in a sec.  Yep, we're going to get all our regular homework done, eat dinner, take a bath and THEN make a deluxe chocolate bread pudding, take photos print them out (ok, maybe on my computer but you know it will run out of ink in the middle) and make a poster.  Of course, hitting the sac at 8:00 with our obligatory 20 min of reading.  Um hmm

Well, luckily this aint my first rodeo so here we are, making our dessert on Saturday.  Sunday = photos and poster.   Monday we quickly made a triple batch (15 eggs!) of this yummy stuff and were ready for bed on time :)  Easy breezy.

The happy chef

Good enough to eat!

Her classmates thought so too...not a single ounce was left and I heard from everyone including the Principal that it was delish!  Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try.

Emma’s Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

                                                                                           

5 Slices of bread

¾ Cup of sugar

5 Eggs

1 ¾ Cup milk

2 T. butter

¾ Cup chocolate chips

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Grease baking dish with butter

Butter each bread slice with the 2 T. butter

Break up bread into 1” pieces and place into prepared baking dish

Add chocolate chips to bread (evenly dispersed)

Beat eggs and sugar together in a bowl

Scald milk in pan until a film forms on top

Cool milk slightly and add vanilla

Pour milk mixture into egg mixture and stir

Pour over bread and chocolate chips

Bake for 40 – 45 minutes

Cool and enjoy!