{January's Kiwi Crate Part 2}

The second part of January's Kiwi Crate was the part where we got to decorate a chef's apron and hat. Scarlett wanted to start with the hat. To help her write her name straighter we put a book inside, this did the trick. Since she wrote rather small it allowed her to add some of the stickers to not only the sides and back but the front as well. 

Once she had finished the hat, to her liking, it was on to the apron. Scarlett is ocd about using everything, which included using ALL of the stickers. Sometimes less is more but never in her case. 

This is what the apron looked like before we pulled the stickers off.

The finished product and one extremely happy, smiley kiddo! 

{January's Kiwi Crate} Craft time with my kiddo

  We seriously love Kiwi Crate days in our house. As soon as Scar sees the green box I am asked a million times, "Can we do it now Mommy!" Usually, we wait for the weekends but since she has had a hard week, I decided that today would be the perfect day. (As soon as I move the coffee table she burst into the room, "Is it time?" She disappeared for a few brief minutes only to reappear in her Turtle pajamas, because everyone does crafts in their pj's right?)

 Today we had to opportunity to make our own "frosted cake" and a Chef Apron and hat. 

Before we do any of the crafts we always take a second to read the stories that come with each crate. Honestly, this is one of the reasons I love Kiwi Crate so much. Not only are they helping her spark her imagination and creativity but she also gets lots of reading practice with the booklet and the instruction manuals.

After reading the story it was time to start the cake making process. 

After reading the instructions she was ready to stack the cake pieces and get all the icing on them. She looked at me and asked, "Can I eat the icing Mommy? It doesn't smell sweet." I am happy to report she was completely okay with not being able to eat the clay icing. 

 

 I love how you can see the look of concentration on her face. 

 We learned that when putting on the "stickers" the popsicle sticks really came in handy.

The cake is absolutely adorable! 

 She was really worried that she would not be able to make the dots on the cake but I assured her it would look great. After a few practice dots on paper, she was ready to go in no time. 

You can not make a cake and not blow out the candles! :) 

Ritz Peanut Butter Cracker Cookies

Growing up I remember making these with my Mom, though I swear hers always looked better...PERFECT even. I had attempted these a few years ago and totally failed. If at first you don't succeed try, try again. Not only did I try again, with the help of my kiddos we rocked it! 

Ingredients

• 100 round buttery salted crackers, I used Ritz
• 1-1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
• 24 oz. chocolate/white almond bark

(I also cheated and used the premade Ritz peanut butter sandwiches as they were on sale. We also used pretzels and dipped them into the chocolate.) 

 Instructions

1. 1. Lay out wax paper to put finished cookies on. 
2. 2. Place about a 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter on a cracker and spread out. Top with another cracker. Repeat until all crackers are gone.
3. 3. Put the crackers in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. (I find this helps the chocolate harden faster once we get to that point.)
4. 4. Melt almond bark in the microwave, making sure to stir frequently so it doesn't scorch. 
5. 5. Drop a sandwich cookie into the chocolate. Make sure it's covered, then remove with a fork. Shake it back and forth a few times and drag fork along the edge of the double boiler to scrape of excess almond bark. 
6. 6. Place cookie on wax paper. Decorate as desired. Repeat until all cookies have been dipped.
7. 7. Place the cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until chocolate is completely hard. 
8. 8. Place in container with wax paper between the cookie layers and store in air tight container, I always keep my in the fridge. 

We bought cute little tins from Dollar Tree this year and stuffed them full of our wonderful creations to give as gifts. They were a HUGE success. The pretzels were taken to my work for our Holiday office party, the kiddos really loved hearing from everyone how good the cookies were. seeing their faces light up as the compliments came in got my thinking and i have decided to do this again with them for Valentine's Days. Can't wait to see how those come out. 

Happy New Year

Okay, I realize that this blog has been lacking content lately. Honestly, it is ALL my fault. Between working a 40 hour a week job outside of my home, running a photography company, selling Thirty-One Gifts, being Mommy and a girlfriend this blog was the last thing on my mind. 

This year that is going to change. Scouts honor. 

How did you all spend your New Years Eve? My day was great. I spent it with my AMAZING kiddos. My evening well that was a total fail...

The night started off great. My oldest daughter and her best friend offered to babysit for us, of course we took them up on the offer. As luck would have it the place we were planning on going to was hosting a family night so at the last minute we were forced to come up with alternative plans. We opted to attempt to see a movie...that was a no go. Feeling defeated but not willing to go home at 7 pm we decided to check out a local bar. (HUGE mistake.) Neither Joe or I drink and being around intoxicated people just is not as fun as it use to be. After about an hour we left. Our journey took us to WalMart. 

Yes, your read that correctly. We spent our NYE at WalMart. It was actually nice to get to shop with literally no other customers in the store. I danced around to the music, like always, until Joe mentioned that the security people watching the tapes were probably planning on calling the cops on me thinking that I was in fact drunk. In retrospect, he was probably correct. Our night ended at 10 pm when were decided it was time to just admit that we are old and lame. Is it sad that neither of us managed to stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year? 

Since this years celebration was a bust, we decided to plan ahead for 2016. It has been decided that we will send the kiddos to an overnight camp/playdate, come home, cuddle up and go to bed early. Truth be told, it sounds like a pretty awesome plan if you ask me.