To Die For Cookies - Seriously!!

You have got to try these....they are "OMG" Good! 

Peanut Butter-Pecan Chocolate Chip Granola Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 3/4 cups granola cereal
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix butter, peanut butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

2. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown (do not over bake). Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

*** I substituted the Bisquick for All-Purpose Flour.  For the granola cereal, I used Special K's low fat granola cereal with a touch of honey.  I also added extra chocolate chips and granola (about 1/2 cup extra)

*** Recipe by Betty Crocker (with my adapted notes).  Picture is also found on the Betty Crocker's site.

Q is for Queen and Y is for Yak

Nathan practiced writing Q's and Y's today.  For his "Q" craft he made a crown and crowned me as the Queen.  We made one for him as well and he became the prince for the day.  We used poster board to make the crown shape and then wrapped it in foil.  We also used glitter foam board for the jewels.  He had a lot of fun with this one. 

My queen for the day bubble was busted when the kids started coming home from school and they wanted snacks and all the attention I could give them.  It was fun pretending to be queen while it lasted.......

For the letter Y, we made a Yak.  I got the template from dltk crafts.  We put it together and then glued yarn on the body of the yak, because yaks are super hairy.  Nathan liked using the yarn, because it started with a Y too.

I've been trying to play catch up with crafts and letter writing, I hurt my back at work and I've been doped up on pain killers and muscle relaxers for the past few days.  I don't know about you, but those things knock me off my feet and I spend most of the time sleeping (but at least I'm not in pain when I'm asleep, right?)

Up, Down and Around (A stART project)

Today, I'm linking with the stART blog hop again.  It's a great way to learn about children's books and see some really great art projects.  We recently read the book Up, Down and Around by Katherine Ayres.  The illustrations by Nadine Bernard Westcott, were very colorful and fun. 

The story is basically about planting a garden and reaping the rewards of it.  This will be our second year of planting a garden and most of us (some of the kids aren't real excited about having to weed it) are pretty excited about growing one.  The book was great and had wonderful art work.

I decided that Nathan's craft should be a scarecrow to go along with the book.   I free-handed the shapes of the clothes, face and hat and cut them out (but I'm sure you could find a template on-line somewhere).  We also used straw, glue, wiggly eyes, craft sticks, coffee, seeds, beads, etc. 

First, we squirted some glue on the bottom of the page and sprinkled coffee on it (to represent dirt). 

Next, we started glueing on the clothes, sticks and hay

We added some embellishments like beads for shirt buttons and glued on some wiggly eyes.

Nathan drew a nose and mouth

And a sun.  He also glued seeds to the "dirt"

Check out....
A Mommy's Adventures for more great projects and children's books.  And join in on the fun!

WINNER!!!

The winner of the CSN Stores Giveaway is...........

#109   Celeste  ~  She said:

I'd get a laptop bag -- I need a new one!

Congratulations Celeste!!!!

(I used the random.org generator to pick the winner).  The winner has 24 hours to claim their prize or I will have to choose another one.

Thank You everyone that participated in my very first giveaway!!!

By Request - Yummy Dinner Recipe

Italian Fettuccine Pie

*Recipe by Betty Crocker

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)

1 can (8oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 can (8oz) tomato sauce

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

6 oz. uncooked fettuccine

2 eggs

1 TBS butter, melted

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

1 cup frozen broccoli, thawed or 1 cup chopped fresh broccoli

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1.  Heat oven to 350* In a skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain.  Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning.  Heat to a boiling, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat.  Cover; simmer 10 mins, stirring occasionally.

2.  Meanwhile, cook and drain fettuccine as directed on package.

3.  In medium bowl, beat one of the eggs and the butter.  Stir in fettuccine and mozzarella cheese.  In an ungreased 9 inch quiche or pie plate, spoon and press mixture evenly in bottom and up the side of dish.

4.  In small bowl, mix cottage cheese and remaining egg; spread over fettuccine mixture in dish.  Sprinkle with broccoli.  Spoon beef mixture evenly over top.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

5. Bake uncovered about 30 mins or so until hot in center. Let stand 10 mins before cutting.

*We all LOVED it....But, I think next time I will make it without the broccoli.  It tasted fine with it mixed in, but I think I'd rather just have broccoli on the side, as opposed to being baked in.

Multiples and More Blog Network's QOTW

  Question Of The Week:

What is the craziest thing someone has ever said to you about your multiples and how did you respond?

Rich and I both agree that the  dumbest   craziest question we have ever gotten about our twins is - 

Are They Identical?

HELLO.......one is a Boy and one is a Girl - that means that they have DIFFERENT body parts, if you know what I mean!! So, NO they are NOT identical.  They are fraternal twins.  Does that answer your question??  LOL!

Things That Make Me A Happy Girl

Getting Great Deals........aka Spending Money!

Old Navy had their annual Flip Flop sale today! Five pairs for Five bucks, can't beat that with a stick! Amanda, Sarah and I went together.  I bought five for me (cause...Um, I'm the mom, that's why!) and the girls and Nathan got two pairs each and Zach and Nick got one pair each.  We also went to the Dollar Tree and I bought Nathan some Winnie The Pooh books and got myself a few do-dads. 

I got this little beauty at a thrift store.  I have been looking for cute bake ware and things like that.   And saw this tart pan for $2.  It's even better than a normal tart pan, cause it's pretty =)

I also bought a huge clear glass bowl (think: fish bowl) to put the seashells in that Anthony brought me back from the beach.  And a little candle holder that I asked Rich to spray paint white for me (it was this ugly marble color).  I have been buying junk like that for months now and asking him to paint them for me and he does.  So when I showed him my newest little treasure, he just smiled and shook his head lol....LOVE him!

Watching My Guys Wrestle And Play

Little Ones.......

And Big Ones....

Love seeing these smiles when they are done!

Baking Delicious Fun Treats

And Sharing Them with Friends (Nathan's Story Hour Treat)

Making Yummy Meals

That My Family Enjoys

Yep.....I'm a Very Happy and Lucky Girl!

Today Was Brought to You By the Letters O and M

O is for Octopus! Nathan made this little windsock that I found at first-school.ws.  It turned out to be a pretty cute, easy craft.  Then he colored some pictures and practiced writing the letter O.

 

Next, he worked on the letter M

M is for Monkey

He made a monkey face, using a paper plate that he painted brown and a template of a monkey's face that I found at dltk. 

He practiced writing the letter M

I had some over ripe bananas that I needed to use and Nathan insisted that bananas are monkey food, so I baked these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Another fun letter learning day!