cookie exchange!

I am getting super excited about my mom's group 2nd Annual Cookie Exchange! Each mom will bring 7 dozen cookies to share. 6 dozen will be divided to take home and the 1 extra dozen will be to eat at the party! I love trying all the baked goodies the other mommas have made!

The cute little blog Little Birdie Secrets is doing a virtual cookie exchange party and I am a featured cookie! Well...you know what I mean! I have already shared my recipe here on my blog but the more this recipe gets out the better a world we will have ;)

Check it out! Virtual Cookie Exchange Enjoy!

Christmas Tree shirt...sooo cute!

A friend brought this blog to my attention today..."Just a Betty trying to be a Martha" and it is super cute! She has this tutorial on how to make a ribbon Christmas tree on a onesie. And after seeing it I wonder "Why the heck didn't I think of that?!??!??!" But...thank you Just Betty for the wonderful idea! I am off to the store...for some reason I do NOT have any Christmas ribbons. Shame on me! And then I will head right back here and make my little princess a Christmas tree shirt to match the cute little skirt I made her the other day (pictures of the skirt are coming soon...). The same friend is having a Christmas craft playdate at her house tomorrow and we have to be deck out for it! Make sure to check out the oh so easy tutorial from Just Betty's blog so your little angels can have a super cute Christmas tree shirt too!

The best cookies you will ever have...guaranteed!

Much thanks to the Pioneer Woman and her absolutely awesome website! And thanks to my friend B for bringing this recipe to my attention. Why do I feel like I should be holding a trophy and wearing a gorgeous dress? I must say…THAT is how good these cookies are! Here is the original recipe on the Tasty Kitchen website. I omit a few things, though I have tried the original I believe it doesn’t need the chocolate chips or M&Ms that are added in the batter…and the chocolate drizzle is amazing but also isn’t necessary.

Forgotten Kiss Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
24+ Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Slowly add flour and mix well. Form 1 inch balls around each kiss.

Bake 350° for 8-10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to rack.

I have used milk chocolate kisses, caramel kisses and hugs! Yumo! My friend B also tried peppermint kisses and those were super yummy too!

I guarantee these will be a new family favorite. The first time I made them I had to make them again 2 days later because I wasn’t ready to live without them yet! Sad but true…
And if you have not checked out Pioneer Woman – Tasty Kitchen you must!
Happy baking!

Vampires, werewolves and faries, oh my!

I have been a little preoccupied the last week or so with Charlainne Harris’ “Southern Vampire Mysteries” Holy cow…I thought that after the Twilight and Harry Potter series’ that I wouldn’t be able to find another set of books that would hold my attention! I am not sure what exactly got me to watch HBO’s True Blood but I did. I thought it was rather silly at first. My first and only idea of vampires was from Twilight. Edward could come out in the day, doesn’t sleep in a coffin, has sharp teeth but not retractable fangs, and lives in a “loving” family. So as I am watching True Blood I got a good laugh as Bill’s fangs come popping out…weird! A few friends of mine were reading the books and said they were good and that I should pick them up and read them. I do not know why I don’t trust book recommendations…I really should start. A few months later I picked up book 1 at the library. It was really similar to the show, or actually the show was really similar to the book. And unfortunately I do not have HBO so I am missing the second season! AHHH!! After reading that first book it took me awhile to get the 2nd, it was pretty good. The 3rd, good…the 4th holy crap good. I am an Eric Northman lover, oh man…do not get me started on Eric. He stars in a few dreams of mine…change of subject. The 5th book was alright but I was still dreaming of the 4th J The 6th book…same, the 7th same. The 8th same yet again. The 9th I dug entirely. I do not want to give anything away so if you aren’t there yet I apologize. The jury is still out on whether or not I wish the world has supernatural creatures in it. On the off chance that I would get to meet Mr. January then I would say yes, yes I would like to believe supernatural creatures exist. Then fear takes over…uhh…vampires are scary….werewolves, yep scary too. Fairies? Never thought of them as scary no…but yep now I do! Now I have to wait till May of NEXT year to see how the story continues. I have my theories but I will not bore you even more with my little vampire chit chat.

And isn’t it funny how you see a picture of someone. Then read a story with that person in mind as a character. But your mind changes the looks of the person that plays that particular character. Example: Eric in True Blood, not a bad looking man. I just looked up pictures of him and I was thinking, “That’s NOT what he looks like!!!” The Eric in my head looks similar to the Eric on True Blood but tweaked…hmmm. Same for Edward in Twilight. I didn’t read Twilight until it had already been out for a few years, and still after the movie previews had come out. I already had a picture in my head of what Edward was “supposed” to look like (Rob Pattenson). So as I read the books Edward looked like MY version of Rob. Anyways…what made me think of this is that I wanted to post a picture with this blog entry of Eric and when I googled pictures of him he just didn’t look “right”…catch my drift?! Wow…what a tangent.

Thanks to the Sookie books my house is an absolute mess! Dirty dishes, stacks of laundry to do, the dinner menu to make still, a blog that has been left alone, my fish on Facebook have died…you know…the important stuff! But I am thankful that my husband has picked up a bit around the house, made dinner this weekend and even vacuumed!

I am trying to find another series to read while I am very impatiently waiting for the next Sookie book…and I desperately need recommendations. I can not guarantee that I will trust them but I am working on that! I will give almost every book the first chapter test.

big girl bed...done!

Thanks to my mom the little princesses big girl bed is done! She has been sleeping in it the last few nights and has done wonderfully! I was super nervous that she would love the freedom and take complete advantage of it...but she does not. She even takes naps in her new big girl bed. I am so proud of my little baby for being such a...big girl :( She is growing so fast, I need to stop blinking. The whole big girl bed process was fun, and never had it entered the ol brain of "losing" my little baby. That was until my hubby called me over as he was taking apart her crib and you could see that he was sad. Our little baby has grown up...and will never sleep in a crib again! Que the water works. Oh man...even the little one was a tad upset. "My crib" She had a look in her face that said "what are you doing?" ya know...what are you doing with my bed?!

Since her bed was a little high I got her a cute little wooden step stool and painted it the same color as her bed. I plan on decorating it somehow as well...but haven't decided what to add. Would love some ideas!

Here is the finished product:

not too bad for a $35 bed from Craigslist!?

The princesses "friends" as she calls them...they sleep with her ever night. Buzz, Woody, Tigger, Pooh, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie!