Making Changes...

I thought it was time to revamp the blog so here is it is... I'm not entirely sold on the new background but I think I will give it a few days, then see how I feel. Happy Monday!

Yum...

I read about this fluffy white frosting on another blog a few months ago. She wrote how easy it was to make and how much lighter and fluffier it was than canned frosting. Usually when I bake a cake I just leave the frosting off because I am too lazy to make homemade butter cream or anything of that nature and around here the canned kind is not our favorite (meaning we hate it!) To my dismay they do not sell it in any of our local grocery chains. I searched high and low even asked at publix if they could order it which unfortunately they could not.

So just how did I come across the frosting you may ask... I traded out Lance crackers with my sis who lives in Minnesota! I know a Lance cracker trade may seem odd but where she lives they don't sell Lance crackers but they do sell powdered frosting mix! And Lance snack crackers are the best so it makes for a pretty even trade of yummy!

This is a super easy frosting it really only takes about 10 minutes. The box contains a packet of white powder to which you add 1/2 cup boiling water. Hubby laughed when I heated the water on the stove not the microwave. Am I the only one who still does that?

The only problem that I had was that it had suggested that you use a standing mixer for best results. I don't have one so it did give my hand mixer and my arm a good workout as you have to mix on high for 6-7 minutes.

My mixer did a good job though, as the frosting turned out perfectly. As the little one can attest to!

At first she just lightly tasted it but in a matter of seconds she was covered in it!

The box claimed it would generously cover a 2 layer cake, they weren't kidding. It more than generously covered the devils food bundt cake I made.

And even though it has an inch of yummy frosting coating it I couldn't help myself I added some extra goodness...

CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES!!!!

This is a great easy frosting, very yummy and a great excuse to bake a cake! I will definitely have to have sister stock me up when she comes to visit!

Traveling...

Our real estate agent did open houses here this weekend so in order to keep the house spotless we did the only thing possible, we left town! We decide it was a great time to go and visit the grandparents. Friday we drove to Raeford to visit great granny. The little one had the best time running around discovering the treasures her house holds.

A pint sized rocker in great granny's living room was a lot of fun!

Her collection of old license plates in the garage.

This made me chuckle...

Medieval torture devices she calls exercise machines. She almost gave us a heart attack when she jumped on it, so no pictures were taken of that even though it was quite humorous!

Her old radio and record player. On top is a picture of her and her twin sister.

Great granny and the little one. It was tough to get a shot of them together. The little one was constantly on the go exploring.

After a yummy lunch of soup and cornbread we continued on to Wilmington to spend the rest of the weekend with my folks. They were kind enough to take us in for the weekend in exchange for hubby doing crown moulding in their bedroom. Grandma was so excited to see the little one again so soon and surprised her with a new fun water toy!

Notice how Grandma was smart and stayed out of range of the splashing water! She is nearly in the bushes! Unlike me who ended up wet as well! After tiring Grandma and Grandpa out the weekend was over with a short visit with hubby's folks on the way home in Murrells Inlet. Hubby's mom is recovering from back surgery and is still in the hospital. We hope she is back on her feet soon!

Beach Days...

Went to Folly Beach this morning, it is so nice that the little one is mobile enough to enjoy the beach! It has to be one of the easiest and cheapest forms of entertainment. She essentially can run loose without worrying if she is going to get run over in the street or eat the flowers in the yard. And as an added bonus I'm getting a great tan!

The Assumption Song...

Hubby has now found that the little one really enjoys watching cartoon shorts from YouTube. A few days ago he stumbled across this video, because I have a dirty mind and a trucker mouth I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you do too! Happy Monday!

To follow up...

Here is the result of my previous post...This little guy hopped on hubby as he was trying to walk in the front door yesterday morning! Hubby was kind enough to wait on me to run inside to get the camera, before he said goodbye to his little friend. Neither of us had actually seen a baby lizard that was this small before, this little one was probably only about 2 inches big

Hate it when that happens...

I had high hopes that I was going to be able to write about how this new recipe I tried worked out and was the most delicious thing we had ever eaten but I so can't! It wasn't inedible but the taste just didn't live up to the image I had expected in my mind. I used the Krusteaz raspberry bar mix to make cheesecake bars (the recipe is on the back of the box).. I have had great success with their mixes, we love the coffee cake muffin mix but this not so much!

The crust, which smelled yummy when it was mixed was very grainy and crunchy. You can see a lot of visible oats in the mix.

The little one and the dog waited patiently for me to prepare it. I promised them each a taste!

The finished product looks great but we discovered it is best if you just lick the cheesecake part off the crust and throw the crust away!

The crust was just too dry and crunchy for our taste. Cheesecake deserves a better crust!

In other news our neighbors brought these over for the little one! So sweet! I just love the embroidery! It is hard to tell from the picture but the blue towel is embroidered with brown thread which just looks so nice together.

We have a really nice couple who live behind us, their kids are grown and live a few hours from here. They love to visit Evelyn because their grand kids live so far away and they don't see them very often. She makes a good substitute grand baby for them!

That's all for now! Happy Friday!

Cleaning Up and being THAT mom...

Due to a moment of irritation in not being able to find a particular article of clothing I decided to tackle our closet. Here it is mid July and I have never gotten around to packing up the winter clothing. Our closet is a nice size walk in but like every closet it has its filling point. We had reached that point.

Even the little one decided to help me. Here she is sorting the hangers for me!

Three hours later the closet is pristine. Clothing is now sorted by type and color, and I am even giving the Oprah trick another try. I was watching Oprah one day when they had a show on keeping yourself organized and they said to turn your hangers all around then wait a few weeks and see what still has the hanger turned around. It is an easy way to know what you are actually wearing. This really works, I tested it on hubby a while back.

I am especially guilty of hanging onto clothes from decades ago in the hope they will either come back into style or fit again. I am determined at the end of next month to seriously clear out what we do not wear! Within reason...


On to the next topic... I found myself doing something today that I thought I would never do... I bought my kid this...

The little one has now decide to turn her nose up and all of her previous favorites. PB&J sandwiches, cheese toast, spaghetti, waffles, etc. have all hit the floor faster than the dog can keep up! So here she is shovelling in as fast as she can, craptastic instant mac and cheese!

I had always dreamed of having a kid who liked everything so that I could be one of those mothers that had a kid who eats healthy and is so easy to feed and at first it seemed as though we did. She would eat just about everything we put in front of her except green beans and green peas. Those days are gone my friends, we are reduced to cheap frozen pizzas, mac and cheese and assorted flavors of goldfish.

She does love fruit but that has to be limited due to the diarrhea factor (learned that lesson the hard way, never feed you kid watermelon , blackberries, peaches and strawberries in one day). I even bought fish sticks to try (suggested by my neighbor, mom of two) to see if she will eat those. We will be testing those for dinner.
I am hoping that this is a phase but knowing how picky I was as a kid I'm guessing this is only the beginning.

So for now its mac and cheese and I am slowly becoming THAT mom who feeds her kid food that isn't organic and super healthy, at least for now anyway.