holiday

Easter Basket Ideas

March 23, 2020

The Great Eggscape — Books are given for every holiday in this house. We love Jory John books, and this one looks so fun!

Easter Bunny Go Fish— Who doesn’t love Go fish?! I love playing this game because it is easy for kids of all ages to play. Plus, the bunnies make it extra cute!

Easter basket— This neutral basket is so cute!

Play doh Eggs— So cute and so festive!

Kinetic Sand— perfect for these days stuck inside!

Scrunchies— so cute!! The bows look like little bunny ears.

Midwest shirt— This is from State of Play Kids, and they have so many fun ones to choose from! I like putting useful things in Easter baskets, and this is such a fun shirt!

Sidewalk Chalk— so fun and perfect for playing outside!

Colorful Pens— These are my favorite pens. My daughters love to steal them from me.

Target has a whole page dedicated to Easter craft ideas! Go check it out!!

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Eggnog Cutout Cookies

December 17, 2019

Ingredients:

1 Cup softened butter
1 Cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp whipping cream or milk
1 tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/1 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar at medium speed.

Add egg, whipping cream (or milk), rum extract, and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed.

Reduce speed to low. Add remaining ingredients and beat until incorporated.

Divide the dough and shape into two balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm (2-3 hours or overnight).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll each dough ball in between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut them into desired shapes and place 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. They don’t really rise or spread much, so don’t get too stressed about spacing.

Bake them for 8-10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack and frost with your favorite frosting.

We make these cookies every year for Christmas! They are so delicious, and we often eat them before we get the chance to frost them! When do frost cookies, we make a homemade frosting. I would share a recipe, but it’s usually a bunch of powdered sugar, a little milk, vanilla extract, and some palm shortening. You can also add a little rum extract for the frosting on these. I just play around until it’s the consistency that I like.

Here are my favorite baking kitchen supplies:
Kitchen Aid (love for cookies)
NutriMill (love for bread)
Baking Sheet
Parchment Paper

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Festivity

December 16, 2019

Our town has started a tree-lighting ceremony before the parade. The kids got gift bags, made crafts, and wrote Christmas cards for people in the local nursing homes. It was so much fun!

This month has flown by at lightening speed because of so many obligations. Now that programs and events are over, I’m hoping things will slow down and we can actually ENJOY the rest of the month. Here’s to hoping for a few weeks of rest.

We had a beautiful snow storm last night that kept us home from church. We baked Christmas cookies and watched The Grinch while the snow fell outside. We were going to bake a lot of cookies to give to friends, but two of the three kids have TERRIBLE colds that sound like they may be turning into something worse. So, we made a batch of no-bakes and some eggnog cutout cookies. I’ll share the eggnog cookie recipe soon because they are good!

This is our last week of school before Christmas break, and I may be more excited than the kids. Scott and I are getting no sleep with Harper being so miserable and awake all night. We’re so tired, and I’ll be glad to turn on Christmas movies every day and relax. Scott even took some time off, and I can’t wait to get time together as a family!!!

We woke up this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland. I hope that wherever you are, you are able to slow down and enjoy the season– even if it includes snow. It sure is beautiful.

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Happy Halloween

November 1, 2019

Wowza, was it a cold Halloween!! We woke up to snow on the ground and bitter cold temperatures. I remember going trick-or-treating with tons of layers on under and over my costumes when I was a kid. I just figured that was normal still. Apparently not since we were one of the very few families out going door to door.

The girls got so much candy, and I’m so thankful that their dentist does a program to buy their candy. I weighed their bags last night. Addi has 6.2 pounds of CANDY. What on earth?!

It was tons of fun taking the girls around the same neighborhood that I used to trick-or-treat in. I really love the silly fun and community of the holiday. I hope that you had a wonderful and safe Halloween. Now, it’s time for Christmas music and movies!

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Our Favorite Halloween Books

September 27, 2019

I Want to Be in a Scary Story Little Monster thinks he can handle being in a scary story, but can he?

Moonlight the Halloween Cat Moonlight loves Halloween. See all of the sights through Moonlight’s eyes.

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus The classic nursery rhyme with a fun twist

Trick or Treat?

How to Make Friends With a Ghost This is a cute story of friendship. How can someone become friends with a ghost?

The Scariest Book Ever We are going to have to buy this one. The pictures are so colorful and the story is so cute. Spoiler: it’s not scary at all!

Baby Einstein: Halloween A touch and feel halloween book!

Spooky Pookie Sandra Boynton’s beloved Pookie is trying to choose a Halloween costume. Eek! Halloween is another favorite of hers.

Frankenstein A Baby Lit primer about Frankenstein. This teaches basic anatomy.

Arthur’s Halloween One of my childhood character celebrates Halloween.

Halloween Hustle A fun diddy about skeletons dancing and doing the “Halloween Hustle”. Can skeletons dance without falling apart?

Big Pumpkin The witch really wants to make pumpkin pie, but her pumpkin is SO BIG. Everyone tries to help her, but it’s just too big. Will the bat be able to help?

Shivery Shades of Halloween See all of the colors of Halloween in this book!

Creepy Carrots Jasper Rabbit loves to eat carrots. He eats them all the time. But, he starts seeing creepy carrots everywhere! Are they real? What can he do?

Room on the Broom Our copy has fallen apart it is so loved! The witch always makes room for more friends on her broom. But, can the broom hold them all?

You can score books buy 2, get 1 free at Target currently!!!

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Our Favorite October Books

September 26, 2019

I know, I know. It’s not October yet! But, if you wait until October 1st to start requesting these books from the library, it will be too late. These are fun books for those that don’t celebrate Halloween, or who just want something that isn’t spooky for their kiddos.

Hocus Pocus, It’s Fall The pictures are so pretty. This one is all about the beautiful changes that come in the Fall.

Stumpkin This story is all about a pumpkin without a stem. He is afraid that he won’t be made into a jack o’lantern like his friends were. This one does mention Halloween if you are one who does not celebrate.

Plume Plume is a mischievous black cat that loves to collect feathers. It is fun to see the beautiful illustrations of different birds.

The Cat at Night Follow the black cat through the sites and sounds at night. The illustrations are so vibrant and well done.

Popcorn This is an oldie but a goodie! Sam the bear is hosting a Halloween costume party. He makes popcorn with his friends, and the fun that unfolds is a delight!

Mouse’s First Fall This is another sweet story about all the fun that Fall brings.

Where the Wild Things Are Let the wild rumpus start! This is another classic! Dive into Max’s fun world!

Little Owl’s Night See what Owl sees as he wakes up and explores the night!

Edit: I will add to this list!

Skulls Learn about what a skull does to protect our body! The pictures are so fun!

Tomorrow, I will share our favorite “spooky” Halloween books! This is just my favorite time of year!! October/November/December are the best months of all!

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Easter Dresses for Girls of All Ages

March 26, 2019

I love being a girl mom, and it’s so fun when they can all match. I know eventually they will probably hate it. Right now, they still love it and I’m going to embrace it as long as I can. Easter is one month away, and it’s time to start thinking about Easter dresses.

Seersucker and Peter Pan Collar– infant through size 10; also comes in pink

Swing Dress with tie shoulders– infant through size 10; many color choices

Ponte Dress– infant through size 10; many color choices

Skater Dress– infant through size 10; several color choices

Tie- Belt shirt dress– size XS through XXL

Floral Sundress– sizes 2T-12; three color options

Floral Sundress– size 2-12; four options

Pink Lace— size 6-16

Seersucker Crossover Bodice– size 7-16

It is SO hard to find dresses for an affordable price– especially when you are buying THREE in my case. I hope you find some inspiration here!

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Merry {day after} Christmas

December 26, 2018

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas yesterday!
We spent the morning unwrapping presents, building toys, eating our traditional cinnamon rolls, and laying around in pajamas.

We were blessed to have my younger sister in town with her family, so we all planned to get together at my mom and dad’s house for lunch. Unfortunately, my older sister was very sick and her family was unable to come. We missed them a lot, but still had a lot of fun being together.
Scott’s mom and brother came over for dinner, and we had a relaxing evening. The girls were so excited to show their new presents to everyone.
We had a wonderful day, and today the Christmas hangover is real. One of our girls could not stay asleep last night. We are all tired and honestly, grumpy. The coffee mug my mom got me is very fitting today.

In true Ashley fashion, I’m ready to take down all of the decorations and have a clean slate to ring in the new year.
When do you take down your decorations? I’m so curious to know if I’m the only one who enjoys taking them down soon after Christmas.

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Long (Exhausting) Weekend

November 26, 2018

Hello from the other side..
Last week was B-U-S-Y. I hosted our families for Thanksgiving. I cooked pies and cookies all day on Wednesday. I worked a couple of hours at the library and then came home and resumed chopping veggies. I cooked all day Thursday until everyone arrived.
It ended up being 15 people total; my mom ended up sick and I fought crying the whole darn time.
I literally took one picture on Thanksgiving.

ha! I had never made sweet potato casserole before, so I looked up a recipe. I sent this picture to my mom before putting them in the oven. And, that is all I got a picture of. No pictures of family. None of the crazy arrangement to fit everyone in a seat. Sweet potato casserole.. There are sweet potatoes in there, but I had specific instructions to load it with marshmallows. I made one with pecans and one without. It was so delicious.
Everyone left after they finished eating to go “Black Friday” shopping. My sister and mom-in-law did the dishes for me, and I was so grateful. I was so tired, but my heart was so full. We weren’t really sure what to do since everyone left so quickly. Scott and I wrapped up pajamas and a new Christmas book for the girls to open Thanksgiving night. My kitchen was still a disaster, as you can see in the picture, but we were done for the night.

These goobers. I love them.
Friday, I woke up at some terrible hour to go ACTUAL Black Friday shopping with my sister. We had a ton of fun and found matching Griswold hats. We tried to be good, we really did. But, we couldn’t resist the darn hats. Amy even played Christmas music from her phone because we are extra. This picture was after coffee. Bless.

We basically were running or driving every day of the long weekend. We struggled hard on Sunday morning and didn’t make it to church. I have been battling some stupid sinus junk for FOUR weeks, and by Sunday afternoon my throat felt like it was on fire. I should probably give in and drag myself to the doctor, but I am stubborn and hate antibiotics.. I need to face the truth though.
I will resume my small shop spotlight tomorrow. Today, I am focusing on Cyber Monday deals over on my deals and steals page. (This is my favorite deal today!) I am truly so grateful to everyone who orders through one of my affiliate links. I have been able to make enough to pay for all of the kids’ birthday presents and a good chunk of Christmas gifts because of this blog! That is huge for us, so thank you thank you!!!! This is my small business, and I love it.

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The Great Conundrum

November 15, 2018

I am really struggling with a great conundrum. Are you ready for it?
I really want to decorate for Christmas, but it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.
Don’t throw stones at me! I’m not sure what it is this year. I am so ready to put up the tree. However, I am also hosting our families for Thanksgiving. Our tree will go up in our basement, which is away from where everyone will be for our Thanksgiving meal.
That’s acceptable, right?

The kiddos are super excited for Christmas. Addi picked a Christmas movie when we were at the library this week. We have been watching a few Christmas movies here and there. Christmas music has been on since before Halloween.
There is currently 3 or so inches of snow blanketing the outdoors, which only adds to my strong desire to get festive inside. The snow looks so beautiful clinging to the tree branches and rooftops. It’s magical.
Pure magic.
If we find time, I think we will at least get our tree put up. Maybe.
Do you decorate before Thanksgiving, or are you a strictly after person?

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