silly snacks

In the middle of my recipe & cookbook organizing for The Organizing Junkie's February Round Up, I came across a kids' cookbook I didn't even know I had! We were enjoying a lazy Friday afternoon of a little organizing and playing, and so I decided we should give one of the recipes a try.

One of the cookbooks I found is called Favorite All Time Recipes - Silly Snacks. The recipe that caught my eye was {not so creatively} named...

Cool Sandwich Snacks.

Ingredients Needed:
*graham crackers, cracked in half
*chocolate fudge sauce
*Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed
*sprinkles

Spread the chocolate fudge sauce on one half of the graham crackers.

Spread whipped topping about 1/4-inch thick on remaining 1/2 of the graham crackers.
Press crackers together lightly, making sandwiches.
Roll or lightly press edges in sprinkles.
Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
After the wait is over...dig in and enjoy!
Austin was a little surprised to find out how cold his bite was.

Now that I have found some fun cookbooks that need to be tested out, I hope to make some more fun snacks in the future!

For more kid friendly ideas, check out I Blame My Mother (a fun, new blog I found!)

recipe round-up!

How a month can go by so quickly, I'm not sure, but it's the end of February already and The Organizing Junkie is rounding up all those cluttered spaces. February's task was geting our recipes organized!

If you've visited here before you may have already seen my recipe box tackle I accomplished at the end of January (before I realized it would be part of the Org Junkie's round ups!), along with my dessert book I put together after tackling my recipe box.


Although it felt good to finally be on top of my recipe organization, I was still lacking in the area of getting my cookbooks organized...or even usable! My cookbooks were shoved on the top of a cupboard that I usually don't open or even attempt to reach.


I took all of the cookbooks down and took an inventory of them to see what I know I would use and what I wouldn't.


These are the cookbooks and random papers I found that I decided to get rid of. I even found warranty papers for some of my appliances in all of the mess!


I had debated on whether or not to get rid of these Season's Best Pampered Chef cookbooks since I barely look at them, but instead I decided to flip through them real quick to see if there were recipes that I might like to make and put a flag on the pages I wanted to use.


I also found four kid cookbooks that I haven't used yet because I forgot about them! My daughter is at the perfect age for wanting to help cook, and these cookbooks looked like so much fun! Mikayla got the Sesame Street one for Christmas.


In the end, I decided that I wanted to put the cookbooks in a place where I could reach them easily. I also decided to put my recipe box in the same cupboard to clear up a little counter space. So, I rearranged a few cupboards, and found some room that would work perfectly! Why hadn't I done this earlier?


It feels great to get this accomplished, and now I have less of an excuse not to participate in Menu Plan Mondays.

**Head on over to The Organizing Junkie for more Recipe Round-Ups!

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In all my organizing madness I came across a fun recipe that I tried out with Mikayla in the midst of all my organizing. See the recipe and all the fun we had here!

that girl's got talent

Mikayla was so excited to learn that her daddy found her a microphone to use while he plays Guitar Hero. It was one that we had from a small karaoke machine we weren't using. We plug it into the system and she "sings" away! (shhh...don't tell her it really doesn't work!)


And, in other Mikayla cuteness, she came out of her room the other day wearing this...


Not quite the outfit I was thinking...

Do you notice the stripes, plaid, and polka dots? Not to mention capri pants with knee-high socks. Who says this doesn't look good?

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Just a quick thanks to Kelli at Outside My Kitchen Window. She was so sweet to give me a fun award and had the sweetest things to say about little old me! Thanks, Kelli!

this ain't no lip smackers

Today my post {started out} short and simple, but of course I like to talk a lot, so never mind the short.

I'm joining up with Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries and sharing my love for something that just makes the day go a little more smoothly.

OK, I'm obviously exaggerating a bit, but I do love Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer. I meant to add this to my list of favorites on Monday, but I think it deserves its own post anyway.


I have been a fan of the Burt's Bees lip balm for maybe 4 years or so. On a random trip to Target (is there any other kind?) after this last Christmas, I found this lonely lip shimmer on a random shelf marked at 50% off clearance and thought I'd give it a whirl.

Well, gave it a whirl I did, and I now know I can never go back to boring old lip balm or plain jane lip gloss.

I can't go anywhere without my BB lip shimmer. Another perk? I can even fit it in my jeans pocket because it is so slim, and it doesn't bother me like a regular size chapstick or lip gloss.

No, I was not paid to advertise this stuff, but it sure would have been nice to get something out of the deal!

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And, this one's for you, Papa...

I sure do love me some cousin cuties!

Cousins - February 18, 2009
(minus one cute 18 month old named Hunter)

of course, do you notice whose kids aren't cooperating this time??

waiting for daddy...

It was quiet down the hall where I knew my son had walked down not too much earlier, so I went to go check on what he was up to (because usually quiet doesn't mean a good thing!) This is what I found...


Asleep by the bathroom door, waiting for daddy to be finished getting ready for the day after we all spent a lazy morning as a family. This little guy was not feeling well, and was tuckered out by 10:00 in the morning.

We didn't dare move him in fear of him waking up, so he slept in the hallway for another 30 minutes...just a quick little cat nap to re-energize himself for the rest of the day! Thankfully, he took another, much longer, and much needed nap in the afternoon!

For more of Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

use your imagination

Would you like to know what works for me today?

Creativity...and a whole lot of fun doing it!

I wanted to share with you 5 creative ideas using a simple crafting tool like this...

Idea #1: Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Idea #2: Gift Tag

Idea #3: MagnetIdea #4: Baby Shower Favor
(this is made from a baby food jar)Idea #5: Valentine's Day Treat
this one I made at a Stampin' Up workshop (not my idea...I wish!)

The Finished Products

It really didn't take me long to create these...I promise! I like things simple, so that's what I went with.

So, get out your scalloped punch, buy one (use your Michaels or JoAnn's 40% off coupon), or borrow one...I'll even loan you mine if you live close enough, and join us for this month's craft challenge ending next Thursday, March 5th!



All you have to do is come up with a fun way to use a round scalloped punch (any size works!) and then we're all going to link up and share our creations on Thursday, March 5th here at Blue Eyed Blessings! It can be a new post you have created just for this challenge or something you have done in the past. All you have to do is link back to here, so that others can craft along with us.

I plan on hosting a craft challenge each month by giving you a simple crafty tool or embellishment and letting you get creative, so be sure to come back to see what we'll be crafting next for the month of March!!

Oh, and did I mention that we'll be having a giveaway for those who participate??

So, grab my button (on the left hand side bar) and spread the word. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions at heidilynneboos{at}homail{dot}com or just leave me a comment!

To get your creative juices flowing, here a few more ideas...

**Check out my original inspiration post here for a few ideas I have shared.

**And this cute little creation that makes a big statement from Simple Flourishes (love this name...wish I would have thought of that one!)

**And have you seen this fun embellishment idea from Little Birdie Secrets?

So, what works for you today? Join us at We Are That Family for Kristen's first time hosting Works for Me Wednesday.

And, thanks for stopping by and hopefully you've been inspired to get crafty with me!!

scrappin' it up!

I have a fun tackle to share for Tackle it Tuesday!! I have been meaning to finish my son's pre-birth/birth scrapbook. I've had half of it finished for awhile, but I needed to add my journaling and finish up some loose ends to make it feel complete. This last Friday, I had the opportunity to go scrapbooking with friends, and I was able to get even closer. And then yesterday I was able to finish up the journaling. So, now I can say that I have officially tackled it (minus only one page that needs a little more thought into the journaling part of the page).

**Warning: Lots of pictures ahead,
but hopefully inspiring ones!**

here's the page that I need to finish...see that blank space?

There you have it!
A fun tackle, but one that took longer than expected...
Now I'm on to Austin's first year...we'll see how long that takes.
Have I mentioned that Austin's 17 months now?

For more Tuesday Tacklers, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

a few of my favorite things

Today is Friend Makin' Monday over at Kasey's place. She has asked us to share 10 of our favorite things. I wanted to go beyond what I might normally choose, so I tried to get a little creative!

10 (out of many) of my Favorite Things

MY KIDS AND HUSBAND
OK, this one wasn't extremely creative, but it should be extremely obvious! I couldn't live without these 3 blessings in my life! I am one lucky woman!

SCRAPBOOKING
I really enjoy taking some "me" time and using this creative outlet as a way to have fun and enjoy some time with friends. I use to be able to scrapbook at home, but not anymore with 2 kids! We have a scrapbooking store in our town that holds weekly crops, so I try to get in there once a month.

DEALS ON CLEARANCE
(especially at 50-75% off!)

REALITY TV TAPED ON DVR
Whenever I have some down time (usually at night with my computer on my lap), I like to look through some of the shows taped on my DVR and enjoy a lazy couple of hours of reality TV, like Amazing Race, Survivor, Biggest Loser, The Bachelor...but don't worry, I'm not a crazy reality TV junkie!

HAM, TURKEY, AND CHEESE SANDWICHES ON WHEAT BREAD
There's nothing like a yummy sandwich like this, with a side of Baked Lay's and some delicious fruit. My favorite is with REAL deli meat from the deli...it's a rare treat!

PICTURES
I love taking pictures, looking through pictures, anything with pictures! It's such a wonderful way to document life...what would we do without it?

NEW HAIRCUT AND COLOR
I love the feeling of a new hair cut and color after coming home from the salon. I usually feel like a million bucks and so I usually plan my hair appointments on a day where I'll be going somewhere (anywhere) that evening!

ORGANIZING
Give me something to organize and I'm all over it...junk drawers, closets, you name it, I love it! Check out some of my organized projects here, or all of my organizing madness.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD
I really enjoy country music, and right now my favorite artist is Carrie Underwood. I was able to go to her concert back in November, and she was amazing! Carrie Underwood's CD Carnival Ride is nicknamed "mommy's music" by my daughter Mikayla.

SLEEPING IN
LOVE THIS!! My husband is such a great man...he lets me sleep in often on the weekends (we try to trade off for each other, but I often get more spoiled...thanks, babe!)

Come and join us at Kasey's and meet some new blogging buddies!

birthday on the brain

Yesterday I celebrated my 31st birthday (it feels so weird writing that!). I woke up to a nice surprise of my favorite kind of doughnuts, which I haven't had since my birthday last year (you know, with trying to be on this weight loss kick and all). Mikayla was eager to give me the birthday card that she helped make, and Ryan had a scavenger hunt all set up for me around the house, finding little gifts along the way. What a sweet husband! For lunch we headed to Red Robin and then afterwords Ryan took the kids home for a nap and I got to do some "kidless" browsing at Target. Later in the day my mom came to the house to watch the kids while Ryan and I snuck away to a movie. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day with the family.

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On Friday Mikayla went to one of her best friend's 3rd birthday party. It was all pink and princess-y...just the way Ellie likes it! They decorated crowns, wands, ate princess cake, attempted a little dress up, and watched the birthday girl open her presents. To say the least, Mikayla didn't want to leave!

Princess Mikayla & Princess Ellie

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In just 2 short months exactly from today's date, Mikayla will be turning 3 herself! And, friends, how that happened all of the sudden...I have yet to understand! I'll save the mooshy-gooshy stuff for her birthday, but as I started thinking and planning for what we wanted to do for her party, I thought I would share some of my birthday party ideas from the past to get in the party planning mood!

Austin's 1st Birthday - monkey theme
(for more detail, check it out here)

Mikyala's 1st Birthday - butterfly theme
Mikayla's 2nd Birthday (friends) - ladybug theme
Mikayla's 2nd Birthday (family) - flowers and favorites theme

(for more detail, check it out here)

Is it obvious that I love a good theme? I think we've narrowed Mikayla's 3rd birthday party down to a dress up/tea time party. So, I'll be on the hunt for some great party plans. We'll only be inviting a few of Mikayla's little girlfriends, so it means that I get to do some major spoiling! I'd love to hear from anyone who has planned a dress up or tea time party before and the kind of things that you did. I've already gathered some great ideas, but I'm definitely looking for more!

And, most importantly...
thank you to everyone who shared a birthday greeting yesterday! It made my day!!