It's a Load of Christmas Movies

Over the Thanksgiving Break I loaded up my DVR with all the new Christmas Movies!  You know me and how much I love them!   I found a few great ones and a few that were good for that one viewing ... lol.  So hang on there were a lot of new ones this last week.

Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade (Hallmark Channel)- This is a cute movie with a charm to it that made me smile.  It of course is a similar story we have seen before about a boy and girl falling in love but it was a sweet movie!

It's Christmas, Carol! (Hallmark Channel) - Another take on Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol but they did switch it up with only one ghost visiting and taking her threw the 3 stages.  Plus for you Star Wars Fan it's Carrie Fisher (who even makes a Star Wars Joke if you catch it!). 

Holiday High School Reunion (Lifetime Channel) - We have seen this story line before it reminded me a lot like 16 Candles goes back to High School.  But in this one the lovable Ducky may just get the girl in the end (ok he is not as dorky but this is him in a grown up role).  It was a cute movie even with the random singing acts that did get a little annoying but overall it was cute (and if you're a Glee fan you won't mind the singing).

Holiday Spin (Lifetime Channel) - This was a new twist on a Christmas story it was about dance and a failing dance studio.  It was cute probably not one I'd watch again but cute, plus if you're a Kirate Kid fan you'll enjoy seeing Ralph Macchio :).

The Christmas Blessing (Lifetime Channel) - I missed this one before and was glad to catch it this year.  If you read the great book A Christmas Miracle or heck even heard the song you'll love this movie.  The Christmas Miracle was about a little boy who wanted to buy Christmas Shoes for his mom who is going to see God on Christmas day.  This movie is the follow up when the little boy is all grown up.  Very cute movie!

Matchmaker Santa (Hallmark Channel) - A movie after my heart about a baker :).  It is a story we've seen before about a boy and a girl falling in love, but this one has Santa as a helper :).  It was a cute movie, the end was a little odd but still a cute movie.

The March Sisters at Christmas (Lifetime Movie) - If you're a fan of the book Little Woman you will like the modern twist of them at Christmas.  4 very strong willed sisters take on the project of repairing their parents falling apart house.  

Naughty or Nice (Hallmark Movie) - To have the power of Santa's book, but just remember their are two sides to every coin or story.  Hilarie Burton was my fav in One Tree Hill & now on White Collar.  This was a cute story about Krissy Kringle who lives on Candy Cane Lane and learns that we may all have a little naughty but nice also.

 

The Wishing Tree (Hallmark Movie) - Where the underdog becomes to shine and the bad boy just may be a misguided teen looking for love.  A tree where wishes are put and hopefully be answered.

Christmas Angel (GMC Network) - I found a new station for Christmas movies on GMC a Christian based network.  This movie was so one of my favs, it even had some of my favorite characters from the Touched by an Angel series.  About an abandoned house that kids believe if you break glass your wish will come true.  

Holy smokes that was a lot of movies!  They helped me pass the time while wrapping presents and some cozy time with the boys.  Hope you find a movie you would like!  Happy Holidays!!

It's a Wrap

Yes I'm one of the crazy Black Friday Shoppers.  This year with only one steady income coming in this year I really had to budget and shop with a purpose.  I worked retail for many years and had to be that holiday worker, and now I'm on the other end of it.  I always go with a list but with the understanding that I will get whatever I get.  I usually wait for the crowd to go crazy then I step in and grab what is left.  I was really lucky this year and got everything on my list.  Thanks to Winning a $100 GC on A Nut in Nutshell's website and some saving by hubs I has enough to get all the kids gift.  I wrapped them all, now just to get Rick to get my Christmas tree down and I'll be already for the season.

Since my check engine light came on (and it's our only working car) we took it in to the Kia Dealership.  With some luck on recalls that reduced the tech time we spent $240!  YUP for a tune up!  So here we go no Christmas Gifts for the adults this year, but it really is for the kids so no sad faces.  I'm just happy to have ONE working car.

Trials & Tribulations

This has been one heck of a year between no full time job for Rick and car trouble we have just seem to be hit from all sides.  My boss reminded me that I must be thankful of what I do have and she is so right, we have our health and a roof over our head (that is one bill I make sure is covered every month).  As some of you may know Rick's car has been giving us some issues, well it finally kicked the bucket last week.  The bad thing is it's only 5 years old but he does a LOT of driving for his old job and current part time job that it had 130K miles on it and the engine just gave out.  My bosses were so kind and were going to help me get a leased car so he could drive my car and I could have a new car to drive around.  Sadly this car of his is like the ugly wart that drags us down financially and emotionally.  So it's not the route we wanted to go but it looks like we will have to fix the engine and then drive it until it's paid off. The bad thing is Rick's part time job does have odd hours which does overlap with the boys school or with their other activities so it has been trying to figure out how to get all of us around with one car.  A VERY sweet couple from the boys school have offered a spare car up for us to drive it, they are so kind and fixing it up now to pass emissions and get new tabs on it so we can drive it.  Hopefully by Friday I can have that car as a back up until Rick's car is repaired (thanks again to my bosses who are stepping in to help fix that).  Now to get his car up and running and the crazy high payments under control.  The double edge sword is keeping payments up with only one full time income coming in, which if you are late even by 10 days which is usually how it lands it just screws you and your credit go figure!  Some days you just want to say I'm the good guy I'm making my payments maybe late but you get can you give me some slack.  LOL it makes you so frustrated sometimes when you see others just getting everything handed while you have to claw your way up, but as I have learned it is the process and the getting there that has made me stronger plus I know with faith it will work out.

So my dreams of a nice new car have been dashed but just when a door was closed a window was opened with some hope.  Oh yeah and just to be the cherry on the top of the mess my car's check engine light came on.  Thankfully just needing a tune up but that is $300!!!  Hello Christmas gift to me :).  So there you have it, the good, the bad and the ugly ... teehee

Family Photo Mission Done!

The family photos came out great.  The ones outside turned out perfect, sadly the lighting in the house made the ones inside needing a little work.  Our photographer did a great job of cleaning up and making them look pretty.  Next time I need to take my glasses off inside they have a little blur on them.  That's alright we will just have to do them again in a few months when I hit goal weight :).  I ended up buying a new sweater in the green color that everyone commented on liking on me.  I'm happy to say cards are done and ready to go out today!  I did cut back to only people who send cards back, just can't afford to send a 100 cards this year.  

So here is a look at our photo session!  Hope you all have a great day!

Hunter's Survival Guide (Birthday Gift)

A while back I went to a friend son's birthday party.  He and his dad are big hunters.  I wanted to give him something he would really like and not just another toy.  Plus you know me and giving gift baskets, well why not do one a kid would like?  So I couldn't find one that was what I needed so I kind of ran with it and I must say it was pretty cool and a hit.

What you need:

Basket ($5 at Walmart - Brown seemed the perfect Color)

Scrapbook Paper (hunter Themed) for back ground

Scrapbook Paper (orange) for the letters - I used my Circuit to cut them out

Glow Sticks

Pringles

Camo Shirt

Camo Hat

Camo Gloves

Hand Warmers

Target Practice Sheets

Snacks (Trail Mix, Pepperoni Sticks, Crackers & Cookies)

I took the circuit to cut out the letters then glued them on to the scrapbook paper.  I cut the paper down to fit on the front of the basket I found at Walmart (added buy putting pins in to hold).  I added all the items I bought and tada done!  

Happy Monday!

Chocolate Cupcake Turkeys & Candy Corn Mix

For some last minute treats I made these for the boys classrooms.  Pretty easy to make and you can make these up for tomorrow for the kiddos!

First I wanted to make another type of Turkey Cupcakes, this time I started with Chocolate Cupcake recipes.  Then I decorated them to look like Turkey's.

Mom's Chocolate Cupcakes (not mine but someone's hey it was the title):

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions:1. Mix all ingredients together until moist and well blended.
2. Put in cupcake cups and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F.
3. Frost with your favorite icing.
4. To make a layer cake, double the recipes and put in 2 round cake pans.
5. Increase baking time to about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I followed along steps I found for Totally Terrific Turkeys.

Step 1: Frost Thin Base Layer

Step 2: Add "Globs for head" you can add one for tail I didn't

Step 3: Add Candy Corn Tail & Beak

Step 4: Add Eyes and Sprinkles

And we of course had to do one more recipe so I made up some Candy Corn Mix recipe found on I Heart Nap Time (She also made cute bags, I used the holiday ziplock bags).

5 Cups Honey Nut Chex

4 Cups of Mini Pretzels (I used the bag of large I had)

1 pkg of Vanilla candi Quick (I used Wiltons Melts)

1 Cup Candy Corn (found in my bulk section)

1 Cup Candy Corn M&M's (I couldn't find used Reese's Pieces)

Mix all your dry ingredients in a big bowl. Melt the candi quik in the microwave for one minute and pour over your mix. Stir it around and then lay on wax paper to dry.

There you go some quick and easy recipes that can be made up and even given as gifts!

Pumpkin Cupcakes turned into Turkey Cupcakes

Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving?  I know crazy huh?  Cole had his pioneers meeting last night (like the boy scouts) and I always like to make a special treat for them.  Why not make cupcakes that look like turkey's?  I saw a few ideas on pintrest and kind of ran with it.  I first started with a pumpkin  cupcake recipe that I found on Taste and Tell Blog.  And then frosted with chocolate frosting and formed the little guys.

Pumpkin Cupcakes:

1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
Grated zest of 1 orange
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and the 1 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined.

Beat in the flour mixture in 3 parts alternately with the milk and orange zest on low speed until just combined. Add the pumpkin puree and beat until just combined.

Pour into cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean about 15 to 16 minutes.

Then went to the decorating of the cupcake to look like a turkey!  I saw this picture and added my look.

• Chocolate Frosting
• Candy Corn
• M&M's or Reese Pieces

Frost the cupcakes I used a knife so it wasn't the big glop of frosting I usually do.  I then added Candy corn to make the tail feathers (You can use 3 or go crazy and add 6 to 9).  Add a small round dollop of frosting for the head.  Then add two pieces of candy to be eyes and add one piece of candy corn for the beak (see the picture below for the step by step).

Tada You're done!

Have a wonderful day!  I hope to get one more Thanksgiving treat recipe up for tomorrow!

Fall Recipe ... Moist Pumpkin Scones with Glaze

My amazing friend from High School Brandy has a photography business (~Brandy Stockwell Photography~).  She was so kind to come over at church on Sunday and shoot at my parents house.  My dad is still not moving around that well so we wanted to do it where he didn't have to move around a lot and not have to sit in a waiting room and then try to squeeze him into a small photographer room like the ones at the mall.  Since she was so kind I wanted to make her something sweet to take home for her and her family.  As most of you know I LOVE pumpkin and pumpkin scones are my all time favorite.  I sadly am not allowed sugar or carbs on my diet so this is way out of the question.  I couldn't even take the batter to make sure it was right, Thank God they came out perfect!

I found a recipe for Moist Pumpkin Scones on The Taste of Home website.  I thankfully had everything in my cupboard and was able to whip them up in the early am for our afternoon photo shoot.

Ingredients

• 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold butter
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup milk, divided
• GLAZE:
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin and 1/2 cup milk. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Divide dough in half. Pat each portion into an 8-in. circle; cut each into eight wedges. Separate wedges and place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with remaining milk.
• Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks; cool for 10 minutes. Combine the glaze ingredients; drizzle over scones. Serve warm. Yield: 16 scones.

They turned out big and fluffy and if you don't have one of these corn bread/scone making pans I say you must invest in one.  They are great and in silicone which is the best!

And for a sneak peek here is one of the family photos:

Have a GREAT week!!

It's that time of year again

As you that have been following me for sometime know that I love Christmas movies.  My DVR is always set and ready to go.  Lifetime is usually my top choice right along with Hallmark channel.  I was so excited that Lifetime has started to show a new Christmas movie each week for 12 weeks.  I set my DVR for the newest movie The Christmas Consultant.  Ok now it starts David Hasselhoff who I'm usually not a big fan of but I truly enjoyed this movie!  I say if you get a chance to watch this movie do.  It really put my in the spirit and I so needed a giggle and a little cheer.

Have a wonderful weekend!  No sponsorship has been given to me for this I just love Christmas Movies and love to share when I find a good one :).

Family Photo Outfit Picks

I got all the family (me kids & my parents) scheduled for family photo's this Sunday.  Tell you just getting it scheduled with everyone's schedule was like an act of congress.  After r/s time and date a few times we finally got Sunday after church being the right fit.  Now comes the hard part picking what I want to wear!  It's been a long time since I can say I was comfortable getting pictures done of myself.  My goal is 70 lbs down by the picture date, I'm currently 1.6lbs from this goal.  Fingers crossed (and lots of water) that I get there!  

At first I had it in my head a cute dress and boots would be perfect, but then I tried it on and felt like the dress may be a little too long and added volume to my lower half.  I must say it was nice to put on a XL and it to actually be roomy.  Even better when I put on my white jean jacket that is a L and found it was almost perfect!  Whoo hoo I'm almost there!  If you follow me on FB you saw me post these last night.  It looks like a toss between the cream and green sweater.  I'm thinking I will return the boots and maybe just maybe I can find a new sweater or sweater set to wear with my trouser jeans that mind you I haven't been able to wear since BEFORE Caden was born (YUP he's 5).

I like this one but I think it makes my sides a little lumpy

this I think is the winner but with a black cami 

underneath and bold jewelery

So what one do you think?  Be nice everyone I'm about 45 from my goal so I'm not perfect so nice comments only please.  You don't know how hard it was to post this, but I really would love the help.

Fall Recipe ... Mummy Dogs

Who says you have to have a Halloween Recipe only at Halloween?  I wanted to make something fun for the boys!  Plus something quick I could make after church, so this recipe I've seen on Pinterest and knew I had to make them.  I tweaked the recipe a little bit to make it quicker ... I'm all about the quick.

I went to Pillsbury to make their Crescent Mummy Dogs.  

1

can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

2 1/2

slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)

10

large hot dogs

Cooking spray

Mustard or ketchup, if desired

• 1Heat oven to 375°F.
• 2If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
• 3With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).
• 4Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for "face." On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
• 5Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on "face."

Alexis Notes: I just used the pizza dough and cut strips and then wrapped ONE strip around the dog and cheese.

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Fall Recipe ... Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Since I'm on a Waffle Roll here ... ok it's a pun I couldn't resist.  I was going to make homemade cinnamon rolls for this recipe but it was a late night after teacher conferences so I went for my back up pre-made cinnamon rolls.  This was a simple recipe to make and the boys loved them.  I of course didn't get to taste but the boys had seconds and were so excited for another breakfast for dinner night!

I've been seeing cinnamon rolls put in a waffle maker for sometime now on Pinterest.  Most of the links I found didn't link to any post just showed you how to do it, so that is why I'm not linking to anyone. I thought it was simple to do in a pinch and I was right.  Next time I will make my own cinnamon rolls but for this night it worked out great.

What you need:

Store Bought Cinnamon Roll Dough w/ frosting (or make your own)

Waffle Maker

Yup it's that simple!  Open the can put one of the cinnamon rolls in each side of the waffle maker (mine is made with 4 slots so I made for at a time).  Make sure to flip the waffle maker and then flip it back over, open up and take them out.  Frost right away so the frosting melts.  Again this came with frosting but you could make a simple frosting of powder sugar, milk and vanilla.  

Serve right away so they are warm and gooey!  My maker took only about 3 minutes to make!

Happy Tuesday!  I'm slammed at work and not getting a lot of me time after work.  I am trying to get around to see everyone.

Fall Recipes ... Candy Corn Waffles

A while back I did the Watermelon Waffles for the boys.  Then last week Caden asked for waffles for dinner and I thought well it would be fun to try out the Candy Corn Waffle recipe from the same lady on Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM.  Now don't worry there are no candy corn candies in this recipe but they sure are cute and resemble the candy!  For breakfast or for dinner that is made up of breakfast treats this is the perfect recipe.

I started with the perfect waffle recipe (you could use store bought but I rather make my own).

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.
2.	Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Here is the how to make the Candy Corn Waffles:

For the Candy Corn look I had to doctor up the batter a little bit so between the step 1 and 2 of the directions.  I separated the batter into 3 bowls (one small, medium and large).  You will need the small bowl to be the regular batter.  The medium size bowl you will add yellow food coloring to the batter.  I like to use food coloring gel.  The large size bowl with the most of the batter you need to add yellow and red food coloring to make orange.  

Once your waffle maker is warmed up spray it with cooking spray.  Then make a small circle in the middle of the white batter, then add a outer ring of yellow and finish with orange on the outer ring.  Cook according to your waffle maker.  Break into fourth and tada you have candy corn shaped waffles!

Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a wonderful weekend.