Chocolate Mint Day

Happy Chocolate Mint Day!

We are celebrating simply & deliciously around here.

Chinese New Year

Happy New Year!

It's the middle of Chinese New Year.

Did you know?

It's not too late to celebrate; it's a few more days until it's over.

On the first night of the new year,

we had chinese food for dinner.  Fried rice, pot stickers,

& spring rolls.

And I hung some paper lanterns over the table.

 And since it's the Year of the Horse,

I found this neat cut out online.

The kids and I made and colored some dragon masks.

Here they are, although one didn't really like his so he wouldn't put it up to his face.

I tried to get him to put his up by putting mine up in front of the camera.

Here's the result:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Watermelon Cupcakes

Every July, our church celebrates the 24th of July.

It's the day that the pioneers finally arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

The celebrations are all different, depending on where you live and what your

ward/stake (congregations/groups of congregations) decides to do.

In our current stake just outside of Seattle, they plan a big party for the afternoon.

There are bounce houses for the kids, games, and a pot luck where they supply the main dish.

Last year, we were really disappointed with how the day went.

I won't get into it much, but it was hot, everything was late, and we were hungry.

And it didn't seem to be very organized.

This year was so much better.  The weather was perfect (overcast and cool),

the girls enjoyed the bounce houses, and it started on time.

I volunteered to bring some cupcakes again this year.

Last year, if you recall, I made some cutie little covered wagon cupcakes.

But people tended to view those with suspicion.

I think they thought the white was paper and weren't interested.

And this year I wanted to take something that looked great and was more appealing, but

I couldn't think of a pioneer-ish cupcake.

So I decided to do a summery cupcake.

Watermelon won.

 Don't they look delicious?

I used a vanilla cake mix (because the store didn't have white),

made it as usual, but added a small box of watermelon jell-o for a hint of flavor,

and some pink food coloring for a better color.

 Then I stuck some cutie gingham paper to the bottom of these clear plates to make it seem

like a picnic tablecloth, topped them with some delicious 

vanilla buttercream frosting and a Sour Patch Kids watermelon candy.

They turned out great, and they were eaten quickly.

Always a good sign.

New Projects

So I obviously stopped following along with the 

Blog Every Day in May stuff...I didn't really like the topics, 

and I forgot.

Surprise, surprise.

It's a rare occasion when I don't forget something around here.

BUT, I have been remembering to take pictures of a few things we did last week.

There were 2 delicious holidays to celebrate -

sorry you missed them if it was because I neglected to post them.

For

Chocolate Chip Day,

I tried a new recipe, found here.

But I made a few changes.  One, I used mostly-melted butter.

My mixer is having a tough time lately, and since it'll take a few years

to save up for a new one, I can't mix up cold butter.

Even using mostly-melted butter, I sometimes still end up with little clumps

of butter that won't smooth out.

 

Especially frustrating in the frosting process.

But back to the cookies!  I also used regular Hershey's cocoa powder,

since I had it on hand.

And I didn't make them giant.

And I added white chocolate chips.

 

Super delicious!

Here's the dough:

 That's the only picture I took of those babies.

But they were good!

 

Also, last week we celebrated Reese's Day!

So I made some delicious treats using Reese's Pieces.

Peanut Butter Shortbread bars, and chocolate cupcakes with

peanut butter frosting and a few candies on top.

So good.

And since Sunday was

Neighbor Day,

it was a great excuse to give away some goodies.

And I took most of them to ward choir, where they were promptly eaten

as soon as we were done.

 

 

I had never made shortbread before, and it was easy!

I tried to not use my hands to do the final mixing, but it's kind of necessary.

 

My brother is getting married this weekend, so I've got a project going.

I'm making a present, which I can't tell you what it is

just in case one of those lovebirds reads this blog, but here's a sneak peek:

 

And here's another sneak peak at a project that is a joint effort between

my husband and I.

Any guesses what this could be?

 And finally, since I already had the sewing machine out,

I changed the blue strap on this little tote my sister no longer wanted.

It had only one blue strap, but I prefer bags with

2 handles.  So I busted out some ribbon,

guessed on a length, and did a quick switcheroo.

 I like it.

Here's a picture that shows the blue, in case you were wondering.

It worked really nicely to take to church.

It held my scriptures, hymn book (since it was my turn to play

the organ), small notepad, keys, and the lesson that I had prepared to teach.

I have been needing a different bag to use because my last one is now

in the garbage.  I just hope I can keep this bag white enough!

So far, so good.

Dr Seuss Day Dinner

It's a month (and a half!) after the fact,

but we celebrated Dr Seuss Day for the first time around here.

First, we made some Cat in the Hat hats.

And invited some friends for a special dinner.

 We ate some Poodles Who Eat Noodles salad,

Cat in the Hat jell-o parfaits,

Butter Battle rolls,

 Green (deviled) Eggs,

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish pretzels,

Oh the Places You'll Go swirl cookies

& some ham steaks.

Apparently the pictures were all taken before the ham was finished cooking.

And it was just normal - no green ham for me, thanks.

We also made sure to read Dr Seuss books at bedtime and throughout each day that week.

If you're interested in making the pinwheel cookies, here's the recipe.

Although I didn't exactly follow it.  I made my own sugar cookie dough and followed

the directions from there.

Johnny Appleseed Day

Monday, March 11 is 

Johnny Appleseed Day

The lucky guy has two days each year dedicated to him.

One in September, on his birthday, but today

is also celebrated in his honor since it's more of a planting season.

And although we are working on getting our backyard landscaped and have been

looking at what types of trees we want back there, we aren't quite

ready to plant.  So, instead of planting a tree or some apple seeds,

today we will be celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day by eating apples!

I think that's a pretty good idea.

Which is why I came up with it.  And later, I will be trying out

this recipe for Apple Crisp.

I'll try to remember to let you know how it went.

More November Holidays

I'm not sure what the problem is, 

but I've somehow been a little overwhelmed

today.  It could be some bad news I discovered this morning 

(aka a package that was supposedly delivered Friday

has not been seen, so I guess it's been stolen),

or that the kids are extra screamy,

not enough sleep, the moon isn't in my house...whatever that's supposed to mean.

Let's get to the holidays!

Today is

Name your PC Day

Ours has been named for a little over a year, but if

your PC is still nameless, today's the day!

Tomorrow is

World TV Day

So I guess it's not a good time to be screen-free?

If you're traveling for Thanksgiving, maybe you should

take your TV along - you wouldn't want to abandon it

on it's own holiday, would you?

Isn't that a little like leaving a kid behind to fend for themselves

on their birthday?

No?

I guess you're right.

Thursday, the 22nd is

Thanksgiving

of course.

And Friday, the 23rd is

Black Friday

It's also

Fibonacci Day,

for those of you with an interest in math.

Or sequences and patterns.

You know, the fibonacci number....1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 - etc.

With that being said, can you figure out why that's celebrated on Friday?

Saturday the 24th is

Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day

So what will you be celebrating?

This Week's Holidays

This week is Young Reader's Week.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to go to the library,

although today probably isn't a good idea, since

most libraries are closed in order

to observe Veteran's Day.

Speaking of which, did you thank a vet?

I did.  My favorite one, my husband.

Here are a few pictures of him keeping busy in Afghanistan,

back in 2008:

Wednesday is

National American Teddy Bear Day.

So grab a teddy bear and have a picnic!

Wouldn't that be so fun to do for lunch?  I'll have to make sure

and celebrate that with the girls,

which works out pretty well, since Wednesday is also

International Girls Day.

Thursday is the

Great American Smokeout.

It's a great day to stop smoking if it's been on your mind.

It's also a great day to stop smoking if it hasn't been on your mind.

Thursday is also the day that 

my little brother gets home from his mission!

That's right, his two years are over, and he will

be back in the West before the week is up!

He has done a great job serving on the East coast of the USA.

We love you, Elder!  Looking forward to seeing you during Thanksgiving!!

Saturday is

Homemade Bread Day.

mmmmmmm

Need I say more?

 

November

Trying to get settled in after a month of 

being busy busy busy with Halloween.

Let's just say that I will not

be doing that for Thanksgiving.

At least not this year.

Before I forget, here is a picture of my costume - 

part of it anyway.

My sister complained that there wasn't a picture of me,

but I had already changed and then lost

the motivation to get back into it.

I blame it on the tights.

I was a witch.

I made this tutu with ribbons following the great

tutorial found here.

May I just say that is was SUPER EASY,

and I like it a lot more than the tying kind, although it still has the look of a no-sew tutu.

I wore some cutie pink and black striped tights, a black shirt, some

black knee-length leggings, and a black witch hat.

 

I love Halloween.

I also discovered my husband's requirements for costumes (finally),

so hopefully I will get something figured out for him next year.

 

Without further ado,

let's get on to this month's special things:

 

Banana Pudding Lovers Month...mmmmm!

 

Family Stories Month...good time

to work on your family history - especially to ask older family

members to recall their lives

International Drum Month - get banging!

Military Family Appreciation Month - so grateful

for families who have people who willingly serve in the military!

My husband just finished his Army National Guard career of 7 years.

I have mixed feelings about it, but we are happy he's out.

National Georgia Pecan Month - pecan pie would be delicious at

Thanksgiving!  We always have it at my in-laws,

although it's really Washington Nut Pie, since grandpa uses

walnuts instead of pecans.

It's just as delicious - but half the price to make.

Sweet Potato Awareness Month - are you aware?

And next week, we can enjoy:

Saxophone Day on Tuesday

I LOVE the sax - I played alto sax from

seventh grade through twelfth grade.

It's pretty much awesome.

Tuesday is also Election Day!

Don't forget to vote!!

It was a little strange to do that this weekend

and then drop our ballots in a mailbox.

It's not quite as fun,

but just as important.

Thursday is 

X-Ray Day.

Any suggestions on how to celebrate that?

I don't really want to have a family member need an x-ray.

Friday is

Domino Day

We have two types of domino games at our house.

Fairy Go Round Domino Game,

which the kids love...but shop around because

the price I saw on the link is way too high,

and the other is just a regular set of domino tiles.

But we usually play the Mexican Train way.

 

And Saturday, the 10th,

is the

United States Marine Corps Birthday.

Happy 237th to my brother Jakefoot!

So much to do.

The most important is probably to vote.

Don't forget!!

31 Days of Halloween, 16 - 18

Happy National Chocolate Cupcake Day!!

These were delicious!

And so rich that I needed a glass of milk after eating one.

I'm SO glad I made these in mini size.

AND since I put them in

jack o'lantern wrappers, they are good for a day of Halloween.

Woohoo! for counting double.

 Day 16:

Chocolate cupcakes

Get this amazing recipe HERE.

Day 17

Milk Jug Jack O'Lanterns

Day 18:

Ghosties from garbage bags.

I used some mini white trash bags and balled up a

newspaper and then secured with white string.

Chocolate Cupcakes & Other Good Stuff

This Thursday is

Chocolate Cupcake Day!

Yum.

I am going to try a new recipe, which

I'm really hoping turns out as good as it looks.

Tomorrow is

Wear Something Gaudy Day

Apparently this is from the 70s, and the show Three's Company.

So grab something bright, showy,

outlandish, not in good taste, and join the celebration!

Sounds fun.

And right up my alley.

Sunday is the

6th Anniversary

for my husband and me.

That's right, it's been six whole years since we tied the knot.

And we are happy as clams.

Feel free to join the celebration.

Museum Day

We were able to head over to Tacoma, Washington

on Saturday to celebrate Museum Day.

We went to the 

Museum of Glass.

It was pretty neat.

It wasn't as big as I had thought it was going to be.

The first thing we did was head into the Hot Shop to check out the

people working there.

You can check out a live feed here - it's pretty neat to watch.

The girls didn't like it too much - they were scared for some reason.

So we each held one for a little while before we decided

to head out and see some of the displays.

It was great.

I didn't take any pictures inside the museum, but I did

up on the bridge that goes over the busy road & train tracks, so

you can have an idea of what we saw inside.

 It's really neat.

There were a few different exhibits inside.  In the main entrance area, there

was a display of birds.  I think they were all done

by the same guy, but I'm not positive about that.

But they were really neat.  In each display case, there were several different

ones and it was difficult to choose a favorite because they 

were all so interesting or pretty or cute.

And in the gallery, there were some really big creations, and a

few different collections.

All in all, it was a great trip.  The size of the museum

was perfect for going with kids, and they

don't mind having kids come.

In fact, there are a few pieces on display in the hallway that leads to

the restrooms, and those pieces were all designed by kids.

There was a nacho, an elephant, a raccoon star, and a snake on a pole.

They have strollers that you can use, for FREE,

and I just saw on their website that if you have a library card from

Pierce Country, Tacoma, or Puyallup, you can check out a free pass with it.

Which is awesome!

I would definitely head back there after to see another exhibit.

They even had a few sculptures outside:

October

It's a new month, so let's find out what

October is special for:

Apple Month

Eat Better, Eat Together Month

Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Go Hog Wild - Eat Country Ham -- sound delicious!

International Walk to School Month

National Bake & Decorate Month -- I hope to celebrate this once or twice

National Book Month

National Chili Month

Pizza Month

Positive Attitude Month

Also, Wednesday is 

Balloons Around the World Day

How do you celebrate?  By making balloon sculptures!

You can check out some awesome examples 

here on this google results page.

Where Did the Month Go?

September has been busy for us,

but you wouldn't think it by looking at the blog - 

or would you?  Does the lack of posts

here lead you to believe that I've been so incredibly busy

that I can't take the time to update?

Eh - probably not.

And you'd be right - yes, we've been busy, but

the lack of posts is more a result from 

priorities being in other places.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't some great holidays to celebrate

as September ends:

Friday is 

Love Note Day

So get to writing!

When I was dating my husband, he went to boot camp and

AIT for the Army after a few months, so

we wrote a lot, since his phone access

was severely limited.

And we try to continue to write love notes to each other

periodically. If you're out of practice, Friday's a GREAT day to start.

Trust me, your love is worth the time.

Saturday is

National Museum Day

This is a GREAT one!  The Smithsonian

has partner museums across the country that will let you in for FREE!

That's right - quality museums, no cost to you for admission.

Check out the details on their website HERE,

and enjoy learning something.

And you may be surprised at how many museums participate, so check it out.

Sept 2 - 8

Next week is

National Waffle Week

and since I think I'd do much better eating pancakes every day

instead of waffles (which I like, but not as much as pancakes - I think

it's because waffle irons are a pain in the neck

to clean),

I'm encouraging you to check out this site for some

waffle inspiration.

You're welcome.

September

Well, we missed a few fun holidays between today and

the last post, but have no fear....

they can all be celebrated next year!

So as we anticipate the next month on Saturday, let's start out by naming a few

monthly celebrations you might decide to participate in during September.

Grab a spatula, some pancake batter and start flippin'!

All American Breakfast Month

(or you could scramble eggs, toast bread, pour cereal from the box - what's more

All American than cold cereal with cartoon characters on the box?  Of course,

I'm just assuming that started here - I really don't know so if I'm wrong, please don't stress about it.

I've been wrong on a couple occasions in the past.)

Expecting a bundle of joy?  Is your baby meeting a new

milestone?  Do you have all the baby gates and 

cupboard locks you feel are necessary?  What better time to get it done than

Baby Safety Month

Get info and tips on keeping your precious bundle safe here.

Do you love free books?  Head to your local library for

Library Card Sign-Up Month

I LOVE the library, probably because I am often reading more than

one book at any given time - right now it's three

(The Three Musketeers by Dumas, The Clouds by Aristophanes,

and The Red Badge of Courage by Crane) -

but I especially love being able to take my children there and check out a bagful of books.

Cuz the kids around here LOVE to read, too!

There are so many more monthly celebrations in September, but those are the ones

I'm highlighting today.

But I won't leave without letting you know some menu planning ideas for next month,

since September is also:

apple month

chili peppers and figs month

go wild during california wild rice month

low cholesterol, low fat pizza bake month

chicken month

fruit & veggies month

honey month

mushroom month

organic harvest month

prime beef month

rice month

passion fruit and peach month

peas and radish month

whole grains month

If that doesn't give you some menu ideas, I don't know what will.

Unless of course it's September 2 - 8, which is

National Waffle Week

(for great ideas other than pancake/waffle batter to try in your waffle iron, check out this site!)

or the 22nd, which is

Ice Cream Cone Day

Enjoy!

Still a Fun Weekend

I ended up going into so much detail about geocaching that I ran

out of time for Sunday's holiday, and I

wanted to be sure to post what it is before it's too late for you to get 

the necessary supplies.

Sunday is 

Black Cow Root Beer Float Day

It'll be a delicious celebration around here, that's for sure!

Fun Weekend

I hope that you've had a week with less

Screaming than I have.  Our daughter is about to turn five,

And I think the anticipation is causing her some problems.

And how do you work through your problems when you're four?

Scream. Scream. SCREAMMMMMM!!

So we've had some extra timeouts the past few days,

And I've tried to remember extra hugs.

Have you ev geocached?  One of my college roommates introduced me to it.

It's pretty enjoyable, especially if you like treasure hunts.

But more especially if you have a GPS.

It is kind of a requirement.

Basically, you go to the geocaching website.

Pick a geocached to check out.

Gather any necessary items.

Grab your GPS and try to find it.

Still don't understand?

A geocached is something that someone created and then hid near a specific

GPS coordinate.  It might be a film canister, an old ammunition box - really

Anything that will survive the weather conditions, since it will epboably be outside.

Then you post the coordinates on the website and tell potential visitors what they will need to do

When they find your cache.

This could be trading an item for one that's in your cache or maybe signing something. 

They find it, do the thing, and then you can go back to the website and share your experience.

It's pretty fun.

And what better time to try it than tomorrow?

Because tomorrow is 

International Geocaching Day! 

Try it out.

It might be your new favorite family activity.

Anyone Got a BFF?

While I know 'got' is not the grammatically correct way to word

the title of this post, I'm gonna go with it.

Yes, yes, I'm also aware that 'gonna' is not much better than the title.

I guess we'll all just have to deal, and try not to dwell.

Tomorrow is 

Best Friends Day.

So if you've got a best friend, let 'em know.

You could send flowers, a letter,

cookies or candy if they've a sweet tooth,

or a phone call would be ideal for many BFF's these days.

 Whatever you do, thank them for being a good friend, which 

they obviously are, since they are your best friend, right?  And if they're not a good friend,

then maybe it's time to get a new one.

Thursday is

National Airborne Day.

The first time the US Army used paratroopers in combat was 

during WWII in 1942.  I'm pretty sure that one of my 

grandpa's brothers was a paratrooper back then.

I am so grateful for military personnel, current and past.

They have sacrificed so much for me to make this country what it is and what it can be.

I am proud to be a military spouse, and while it was difficult to have 

Mr MPP in Afghanistan while our oldest daughter

was a baby, I'd make the sacrifice again if needed.

And HOOAH to you, paratroopers, for being so brave to head into

combat from the air.

Scrabble Week

I've been a little remiss in getting this post up,

but there's still time to celebrate

National Scrabble Week!

It runs from the 11 - 15, so there's still today and tomorrow

to get your words on.

Mr MPP and I have played one game every night so far.

Last night, I scored my all-time high of 351!!

I could hardly believe it.

And in honor of Scrabble Week, I made some cookies that 

Mr MPP took to work this morning.

 Here's a picture of the ones we kept and ate:

And here's what our board looked like on Saturday after our first match:

So far, I've won every game.

Hopefully Mr MPP can win tonight and/or tomorrow, or we might

not be celebrating this next August.