beans, glue and paper plates

last friday i did another quick activity with ben.
super easy!

1 - rounded up supplies: paper plates, glue, beans and a pen
2 - drew a 'B', a flower and a sun
3 - traced the lines with white glue and put some glue on a plate for dipping
4 - ben placed the beans

this kept ben occupied and interested.
he even made a "crazy shape" one by himself.

i tried to introduce a new vocabulary word - "abstract",
but he still calls it "crazy".

then we made sugar cookies.

ben is always in charge of sprinkles.
doesn't that make you want to eat one of our cookies???
just kidding - i've learned.
ben only gets a few of his own cookies to decorate.
mom does the rest.

party!

we've spent most of today getting ready for a birthday party.

of course, this means tasting your cupcakes to make sure they are good enough to serve your guests.  :)

i think ben is pretty excited - especially since we've only told him "who" is coming,

and not "where" we are going.

the party destination has been left a surprise.

it's one of his favorite places to visit.

we're praying for good weather!

sugar cookies

i always seem to have a mile long list of things i am going to get done on the weekend...

and i'm usually lucky to actually complete one project.

this wasn't on "the list" but it is the one thing that was started... and finished.

 here's how it went...

bake cookies

(we made this super easy by buying a mix - just add butter!)

 choose the one you want to eat

 eat your chosen cookie (still warm from the oven)

with a glass of milk

 make frosting the next day

make funny faces

and get a bowl of sprinkles

 decorate the cookies...

a handful of sprinkles for me, one sprinkle for the cookie.

and enjoy!

hope you had a good weekend.

we're looking forward to a slower paced week with more time at home.

maybe i'll even get a few things marked off "the list" before next weekend.  :)

honey-baked chicken & family photos

That's what I made for dinner tonight.

  

It's super easy, budget-friendly, and tasty.  

Which makes it perfect for this time of year! 

Honey-Baked Chicken
from More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre (Excellent cookbook!)

Preheat oven to 350
Arrange in shallow baking pan, skin-side up:
1 - 3lb fryer, cut up (I usually just use thighs and drumstick I've caught on sale - like tonight.)
Combine and pour over
1/3 c margarine or butter, melted (I use butter)
1/3 c honey
2 T prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
Bake 11/4 hour, basting every 15 minutes, until chicken is tender and nicely browned.  Good served with rice
Serves 6

 Ingredients

Chicken coated with combined ingredients

The final product

See!  It's so easy I only needed to show you three pictures.  (Maybe a couple more, but I forgot to take a picture each time I was basting.)  But you get the idea - it really is simple and delicious.  Ben ate the chicken off two of the drumsticks himself.  And I don't personally eat the skin, but the chicken itself is still full of flavor.  Enjoy!

Along with making a yummy dinner, 

I also managed to update some of our photos today.

Love our new pictures from Unruh Photography! 

The LOVE and family are from Back40Life.

This seemed to be the perfect place our nativity this year.

apple cake for breakfast

Did I mention how awesome my husband is? Well, he is.
He stayed up really late last night and made Apple Cake. 
He was flipping through the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book - the classic red and white checkered one - and said Apple Cake sounded great for breakfast. So he made it.

With apples from his parents' apple tree that we brought home from our visit over the weekend.

It was great for breakfast.  And an afternoon snack during nap time.

And since he was on a roll, he made his famous pizza this evening. 
He's been perfecting it for quite a while.
I can't seem to get it down so Dad makes the pizza in our house, but I help by prepping all the toppings.

yellow pepper(from our garden) and onion

 

mushrooms and black olives

Jake makes the BEST almost-homemade crust using 2 boxes of Jiffy Pizza Crust.

It's baked for a bit on a round ceramic pizza stone thing I got years ago - I think it's from Pampered Chef.

He brushes on a little melted butter with garlic and herbs.
Then tops it with leftover spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms, black olives and lots of shredded cheese.  YUM!!!  It goes back in the often and cooks for a little longer.

Then it's time to eat!  With parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes of course.

 

Long ago, Jake used to amaze me by cooking or grilling food that included things like salmon, shrimp, and steak, but now family pizza night is just about as good (or better).

I'm a lucky girl and I love eating apple cake for breakfast and homemade pizza for dinner.
With my two favorite guys.  One of them bakes the apple cake and makes the pizza.
One of them is only about 3 feet tall, and he wears the coolest shirts.

 

And likes to ring the doorbell.
Mom usually gives him a cookie.  Dad makes silly faces.

The best kind of evening.