Easy Dinner Planning

I'm not quite sure how we got here, but I'm told we are into October already.  Since time just keeps picking up speed, I wanted to share with you one way that I save time and sanity:  I plan my dinners for a whole month at a time.

This makes it easy to compile a weekly grocery list.  This also helps me with my least favorite time of day:  the after school tornado.  School pick up is crazy.  Then we have back packs everywhere and papers to be signed and filed and adored.  There are snacks.  There's homework.  And just about the time I am ready to drop, I have to make dinner.

Gone are the days of facing the giant dreaded question, "What should we have for dinner?"  Now I don't have to think about it.  I simply check my dinner calendar and get to work.

A friend recently asked me to share my whole process with her so she could start planning her dinners using her own recipes.  I thought maybe there's someone else out there who could benefit from a simple step-by-step guide.

1.  Start by making a list of dinners your family eats regularly.  You may have to sit and think through these, or you may want to go through your recipe box and/or cook books.  This is probably the most time-consuming part, but you only have to do it this one time.

These are the dinners my family eats regularly.

2.  Make a list of any dinner recipes you would like to try.  Flip through cook books and peruse Pinterest.  It's time to actually try those recipes you pinned.  Since my family has specific dietary restrictions, I made a list of dinners I want to try for my whole family and a list of recipes that would just be for Jared and me.  On nights when I try a Jared-and-me recipe, my kids will eat chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, leftovers, or something else simple.

3.  Get a blank calendar.  Thanks to amazing graphic artists who post their work online, you can get all sorts of adorable printable calendars.  This year I printed my totally free and completely adorable calendars from Short Stop Designs.  You can find them here.  If you're ready to plan ahead (overachiever), you can get the 2017 free printable calendars here.

These super cute calendars print with a "Notes" section on the bottom.  I trim mine off, and you'll see why in a minute.

4.  Write your dinners on your calendar.  I like to sit with my family calendar (on my phone), my dinner calendar, my dinner lists, and a pencil.  I start by checking the family schedule for days when we will need a Crock Pot meal or something quick and easy.  I fill those in first.  I put new recipes on days that are less hectic.  Sometimes I get all responsible and line up dinners in a row that will use the same produce or add-ons.  Just keep filling in until you have a dinner for each day.

Now you can see why I cut off the bottom of my calendars.  I display my dinner calendar on this awesome reclaimed wood clipboard that a friend made for me.  It's part of this gathering of decorations in my dining room:

Every time I change the monthly dinner calendar, I change the paper on the right to go with the season or current holiday.  I change the Bible verse on the chalkboard whenever a new one strikes me.

Anywho, back to dinners.  So you can see that this process is very straightforward and simple, but some of you may be like me and just need someone to tell you step-by-step what to do.  Once you do it once, it's faster and easier for future months.

When the next month comes, you can simply copy your dinners in the same order onto your new calendar.  However, I like to customize each month.  I like to take our schedule into consideration and space the easy and more time-consuming dinners accordingly.  Plus I just need a little variety!

This is what works for our family.  It only takes me about 15 minutes to plan an entire month's worth of dinners, and my grocery shopping and meal prep are simplified.  I hope this helps some other tired mama bring a little order to dinnertime!

Jessica

How to Help Someone In Need

I am currently in one of the most difficult seasons of my life.  I've been through hard stuff before, but this is different hard.  I suppose I'd never grow if God only allowed me to experience difficulties I've already overcome.

My son has been in a health crisis for over three months.  Every single day and night.  We don't sleep and there are very few remnants of our previously normal daily life left.  I've had to withdraw from all my commitments and responsibilities, some that I was ready to release and some that left me with a stinging bareness.  

I've had to accept help.  I 100% love being a helper, and I 100% loathe being a helpee.  I have managed to resist help through all sorts of tough times.  But here I am in a new season where I don't have a choice but to allow others in.

I wanted to share with you what I have found most helpful in the help department.  Let's face it:  you're busy too.  If you are going to invest time, energy, and/or money into another person, you might as well maximize your efforts.

Please hear me.  This is critically important.  Any gesture of help--kind words, a text to check in, a hug, a meal, a ride, a gift card, a card in the mail, babysitting--is seen as an act of love.  You don't have to do things the "right" way.  I want to give you tips from my point of view, but I can tell you that I have appreciated every single anything that anyone has done for me or to me in order to help me on this journey.  

Don't be paralyzed by perfectionism.  Know that your heart will be appreciated every bit as much as your actions.

Helping Someone Emotionally

1.  Try to understand what the person is going through...

Take a moment to think about what the person is experiencing.  Put yourself in their shoes.  Imagine what they could be feeling.  Observe and ask questions.  Some people might like the chance to talk about what they're experiencing and some may be too tired to talk.

2.  ... But don't assume that you already understand.

You can sympathize with a person when you know enough about what they are going through.  But empathy comes from having experienced the same thing.  I have so many wonderful people who see my pain and exhaustion and reach out to me.  But I really connect with other parents who have actually experienced a child going through a health crisis.

I have also encountered many people who simply don't understand why our life is so difficult right now.  They know a tiny bit of information, assume they understand the situation, and make comments that do more harm than good.

Don't be afraid to say something like, "I don't fully understand what you're going through, but I can imagine that it must be difficult."

3.  Use personal experience to connect.

Maybe you haven't gone through the same exact circumstances before, but you likely have something in your arsenal of experiences that gives you some insight.  Briefly mention what it was, how it made you feel, and how it helps you understand this person.  You might say, "I haven't lost a parent, but my grandmother was extremely important to me.  When she died, I felt like the world was a different place without her in it.  I'm praying for comfort for you as you grieve the loss of your mom."

Sometimes opening up and telling how you felt in a hard time allows the other person to feel safe enough to share their feelings.  Be the first one to be vulnerable.  It's a great gift to offer.

Helping Someone Practically

1.  Take a meal.

This is one of the most common ways to help someone.  I often say that food is my love language.  I love to give people food they will enjoy.  It's just a fact of life that everyone eventually needs to eat, so it's a known need to meet.

Here are my favorite tips for taking someone a meal:

• Use disposable dishes--foil pans, Ziploc or Glad containers, zip top bags.  Stress that you do not need any containers returned to you.  Let them off the hook of washing extra dishes and returning them.  Bonus points for bringing paper plates, plastic forks, and plastic cups for the actual meal to be eaten on/with.
• Be on time.  Tell the person when you're coming with the meal and then try your best to be there at that time.  You don't want hungry kids getting impatient or a nursing mother trying to hold a baby off until after guests have come.
• Ask about food allergies and special dietary restrictions.  No sense in taking a meal that can't be eaten.  You can also keep components of a meal separated for anyone who is picky.
• Offer homemade meal choices.  You might offer two or three meals that are favorites or easy to make and ask which one would be most enjoyed by the person or family.
• Offer restaurant choices.  I had someone send me a text saying they wanted to bring me dinner and asked what restaurant is our favorite for take-out.  Sometimes it's easier on everyone if you simply pick up food from a restaurant where everyone already knows what they like.
• Offer day choices.  There's a fine balance between being bossy enough to nudge the person into accepting your help and still being sensitive.  The best way to handle the balance with meals goes something like this:  "I would love to bring you a meal this week.  I can do Monday, Thursday, or Friday.  Which day works for you?"  Then the person doesn't have to decide if they'll accept a meal, simply when that help would be most convenient.
• Inject something healthy.  I love me some comfort food, but sometimes I need to eat something that's good for my body.  A friend recently brought us a delicious salad with all sorts of yummy healthy ingredients.  It was awesome.  She also brought a big bowl of strawberries, which are my kids' favorite.  It felt so good to have fruits and vegetables, especially when I can't get out for fresh produce.
• Give a meal for later.  You can bring a meal for their freezer that can be eaten on whatever day they choose.  You can also give a gift card for a restaurant that delivers.  
• Make the same meal for yourself.  It's easy to make a double batch of a meal and simply put it in two pans.  Add the same side dishes and the same dessert (of course!) and you've got both families covered.  Or purchase your own dinner from the same restaurant when you order dinner for the person/family in need.

2.  Do some shopping.

One of my friends regularly texts me to let me know when she's on her way to Walmart or the grocery store.  I tell her whatever items I need and pay her back when she delivers them.  This has been extremely helpful.  She always seems to text right when we have a critical item or two that we really need.  I've never given anyone my full grocery list, but I'm so happy to get what we absolutely need.

3.  Run errands.

This is the same idea as getting someone's groceries.  You could let the person know when you are going to run your own errands and ask what they need.  It's easier to accept the help when they know you already have to be out for your own errands.  When a family is in crisis (or recovering from surgery or adjusting to a new baby), they might not be able to do things like return library books or pick up dry cleaning.  You can clear these things off their to-do list while you're tackling your own.

4.  Clean--with caution.

This one is tricky, am I right ladies?  Every woman wants a spotless house, but we all feel like we have to present a perfectly clean house to anyone who comes into our home.  We are a clean-before-the-cleaning-lady-comes breed.   So this one requires some sensitivity.  There are only a few people I will allow to see my house as it really is and even fewer I would allow to help me clean it.

Alternative ideas:  Clean someone's car, rake leaves, mow grass.  Stick to outdoor spaces or limited areas to avoid shame for the person who hasn't been able to clean.

5.  Provide a ride.

You might drive someone to appointments simply to give them a little time off from driving.  Or offer to pick up or drop off kids.  When Nolan is having a really bad day, my friend will pick up my other two children from school and bring them to my house.  This spares me from having to drag Nolan out when he is in pain, and it also saves me from feeling like I have to put on my happy mask in front of the other school parents.  I've had another friend pick up homework and papers from the office of Nolan's school when she's there to pick up her own son.  It saves me a trip and gives us what we need.

6.  Babysit.

I have had friends stay with Nolan for an hour so I can go volunteer at the school for one of my other kids' classes.  Family members have watched our kids so Jared and I can have a date.  I even accepted an offer from someone who stayed with all three kids so I could run a few errands by myself.  Sometimes I need someone to run the errands, and sometimes I just need a minute outside this house by myself!  You can offer similar babysitting depending on the situation.

7.  Manage communications.

When Nolan was in the hospital, my friend Michele created a group text including a bunch of our friends.  I would text Michele our updates, and she would copy the update and send it to the group.  It allowed me to send one text and still reach the group.  Michele fielded their follow-up questions and gracefully accepted their suggestions.  I was busy talking to doctors and nurses and taking phone calls and texts from family members.

Maybe you can help update a particular group of people.  Maybe help manage a Caring Bridge page or Facebook updates.  Organize a meal calendar or rides to chemo or dialysis or appointments.  Be the one to let others know when there's a need they can fill.

8.  Maintain their car.  

Have you ever had your gas light come on when you're already running late and don't have time to stop?  When a person is going through a difficult time, they're not thinking about things like getting an oil change.  If you have time, park your car at the person's house, ask for their keys, and take their car in for maintenance.  You can bring along a book or work or Bible study homework.  When you return the car and keys, let the person know that you enjoyed the wait time for leisure or catching up on work.  

9.  Complete home repairs.

My brother recently came over and fixed a plumbing issue we've had for way too long.  Between Nolan's situation and Jared's work schedule, we just couldn't get to it.  Thankfully, my brother had the skills and patience to figure out the problem, and he took the time to come over and fix it.  We are still delighted every single day to notice that the problem is not there.  Maybe you have skills you can offer.  Clean out gutters, fix a leak, paint, drywall, fix a roof, hang a shelf.  Do whatever is unfinished or undone that may bring a little more peace to the person's home.

It's the Little Things

Don't think you have to make a big gesture in order to have a big impact.  I'm a girl who loves the little things.  Try these simple ideas.

• Send a text.  I always love a quick text from someone, whether it's to check in and ask how things are going or to offer words of encouragement.  
• Send a card.  Oh how I love the written word, especially when it is literally hand-written.  You can pick up a nicely worded card and sign your name or get a cheap blank card and write your own message. 
• Offer a Bible verse.  Pray for the person and ask God for a verse.  You can use any form of communication to send the verse (text, email, card, Facebook, even Pinterest or Instagram).  This is also a favorite of mine when people give me a verse of encouragement.
• Reach out and touch someone.  Some days there's nothing you can do to help but a hug can bring comfort.  If it's appropriate for the relationship, rub the person's back.  They probably have built up tension that you can help relieve.
• Bring a coffee.  Get one for you and one for the person in need.  Tell them you're going and just need to know their order.  That offer is hard to resist.  Maybe grab a donut too.

A Few More Tips

• You don't have to pay for everything.   Tell the person upfront that you'd be happy to get their groceries/dry cleaning/gas/prescription and they can write you a check when you deliver the goods.  This helps eliminate the awkwardness.
• You will say, "Let me know if there's anything I can do," and they will likely never let you know.  That sentiment is still received as heartfelt support, but it also puts the responsibility on the other person to reach out to you.  So pick something to do, and do it.
• Be real.  Be honest.  Show up with no makeup on.  Wear grubby clothes when you stop by.  Let them see your home when it's not perfect.  Let your imperfections show so they know they don't have to hide theirs with you.
• Keep checking.  Needs change.  People always have to eat again.  Groceries run low yet again.  There are set backs and celebrations.  You can participate in different ways as their journey changes course.
• Never underestimate the power of humor.  Sometimes there's nothing to do but laugh.  The more stressed I feel, the more sarcastic I become.  Sometimes a joke or funny card or meme can break the tension and lighten someone's mood.

Happy helping!

Jessica

Owl Cupcake Toppers

This weekend I will be hosting a baby shower at church (along with my trusty church shower teammates).  We will be celebrating the upcoming arrival of a baby girl, and our theme for the shower is owls with pink and purple.

I decided to make fondant toppers for my cupcakes.  These need to be made a couple days ahead of time so the fondant can dry out to hold its shape.

Here's what I came up with:

I looked around Pinterest and just copied what I liked best about each version of owl cupcake toppers I found.

I used my Christmas light bulb cookie cutter to cut out the body of the owl.  I used my Easter egg cutter to cut off the bottom and top of the Christmas light bulb.

Then I used my leaf cutter to make the wings.  I put purple wings on the pink owls and pink wings on the purple owls.

I made the marks on the owl bellies by using this frosting tip:

I used a large round frosting tip to cut out white circles for the eyes.

I tinted some fondant orange to make the beaks and feet.

I had to cut teeny tiny diamonds for the beaks.  I wasn't in love with the triangle beaks I saw on most of my inspiration pictures.  There was no shortcut here.  I just had to cut strips of orange fondant and then cut it into diamonds with a knife.

For the feet, I cut out little flowers and then cut those in half.

I had some leftover fondant, so I cut out large white circles for the owls to rest on.  The feet weren't adhering well to the owl bodies, so this way I could just stick them to the circle backdrops.

The last step was using a black food coloring marker to draw in the pupils of the eyes.  Since this is a baby girl shower, I made the eyes girly.

All done!  I'll bake the cupcakes tomorrow, but I'll wait until right before the baby shower to frost the cupcakes and put the owls on top of the frosting.  If you put the toppers on too early, the fondant absorbs the moisture from the frosting and it wilts and melts.  Not cute.

*Just in case you're interested, I make homemade marshmallow fondant following the recipe/tutorial here.  I promise you this fondant is so much more delicious than store-bought fondant!  I put wax paper on cookie sheets and use those to lay out my fondant shapes while I assemble them and they dry.  That's the ugly background in these pictures. 

Basically, I get to have adult Play-doh time when I make fancy toppers for baby shower cupcakes. :)

Jessica

Announcement

Attention please!  I have a very important announcement:

All three of my children ate asparagus without complaining.

Epic, right?

We've tried asparagus before and it wasn't pretty.  We are an alternating corn-and-green-beans kind of family.  Occasionally we mix it up by serving edamame (who could forget the time we found a snail in our edamame?). 

When I planned our August dinners, I sprinkled in several new recipes from Pinterest.  Most of the new recipes are for main dishes, but last night I tried a new recipe for a side dish.  Thank you, Tastefully Simple, for the recipe for Crispy Baked Asparagus!

My asparagus looked slightly different because I used grated Parmesan rather than shredded because that's what I had on hand.

Of course the kids wrinkled their noses when they came to the table and saw the asparagus on their plates.  But the next thing I knew, they had all finished their asparagus without any complaining!

So now we can be a corn-and-green-beans-and-occasionally-asparagus family!

Jessica

Summer Treats

Friday night we went to a friend's house to celebrate some good news.  She had been battling some health issues and her doctor had eliminated everything except cancer, and then this past week she got the call that she didn't have cancer and instead has something very treatable.

This news called for celebration!

Of course a celebration calls for food.

I made my French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Frosting and Bacon Sprinkles (perhaps I should shorten that name). 

I also made Rice Krispies Treats that looked like watermelon slices.  I got the idea from InspiredByFamilyMag.com.  The inspiration recipe used chocolate chips for the watermelon "seeds," but two of my kids don't love chocolate (weirdos).  So I found some old Valentine's sprinkles that had tiny brown hearts.  I used those dark brown hearts as our seeds.

This was the bottom after I flipped it out of the pan.

I cut it into quarters.

Then I cut each quarter into three or four slices.  Those tips wanted to crumble when I cut them.

Voila!

Nora was on hand to help me clean the sticky Rice Krispies out of the bowl.

 

  

She was quite pleased with the fact that she was wearing her watermelon dress while we were making a watermelon dessert.

This was another time of getting to bake for fun.  Plus I got to make something new!  I like to celebrate big things--like a good medical diagnosis--and little things--like fun in the kitchen!

Jessica

A Fantastic Summer Day

Some days are horrible days.  But then, often for no known reason, there'll be a day that's just so good.  Today was one of those days.

It wasn't that we went somewhere really cool.  Come to think of it, we didn't actually leave the house all day!  It was just exactly what I think of as a "summer" day.

I slept in until 8:30.  Aaaaahhhh.  I got out of bed and pulled back my bedroom curtains (yes, I finally put up curtains!) to let the sunshine in.  This is not the start of a cheesy fairytale.  This is actually how my day started.

I came out to find that my boys had already eaten breakfast.  It's a beautiful thing when kids can get their own breakfast.  Nora came out just after me, and she was warm and she was soft.  She snuggled me on the couch for a little bit before wanting breakfast.

After breakfast I sat down by Nolan on the couch.  I thought I'd read my Sunday school lesson while he watched tv.  However, I got sucked into his History Channel show about an island with possible buried treasure, and I didn't read any of my lesson!  How fun to snuggle my babies and daydream about hidden treasure.

Eventually I figured we should do something besides watch tv and play iPads, so we did a little activity I had found on Pinterest.  We made Erupting Sand Foam Dough from Learn~Play~Imagine.  Ours didn't quite turn out as "dough" because I forgot to tell Griffin to shake the shaving cream before squirting it into the mixture and also because we ran out of corn starch.  It was still messy and fun nonetheless.

After they mixed the ingredients and colored sand, we divided the messy "dough" into three foil pans and took them outside.  I gave each child a squirt bottle of vinegar and let them make mini eruptions in their pans.  

That naturally led to playing outside for the rest of the morning.  I weeded my garden while the kids jumped on the trampoline, played on the swings, rode bikes, and made up summertime kid games.  The kids even helped me weed, for a few minutes at least.  Nolan discovered the first sign of hope for this year's garden--the first pods of sugar snap peas!  Peas may be the only vegetables we successfully grow this year since record rainfall keeps my garden flooded.

When I was finished in the garden and the kids were done playing in the back yard, we moved our fun to the front yard.  We played with a bubble gun and some giant bubble wands.  We discovered ant colonies, blooming Tiger Lillies, and unidentified mushrooms (that my brother later identified via text).

"Elegant Stinkhorn"

"Fairy Inkcap"

As we were playing and exploring in the front yard, a girl who lives down the street rode her bike to our house.  She carried a walkie-talkie that her mom uses to check in on her.  She played with the kids while I made Nora's lunch (the boys make their own!).  The kids sort of ate in shifts so someone could stay outside playing with their friend.  While I ate my lunch, I finally got down to the business of reading my Sunday school lesson.

After the kids ate their lunches, they enjoyed homemade popsicles that I made with Jello.  Most purchased popsicles are not safe for Nolan, and the kids really like the Jello ones.

I was able to talk to my sister on the phone and text with some friends.  All while I wore grubby clothes, had my hair pulled back in a fuzzy ponytail, and wore absolutely no makeup.

Eventually, as we knew would happen, the sky turned gray and the wind picked up.  Our little friend's mom radioed her that she needed to come home, and we watched her ride her bike safely home while the cool wind sent us rushing back in the house.

I let the kids play/watch electronic devices during the afternoon storms.  Once I finished studying my lesson, I sat on the couch watching Downton Abbey (or as Jared calls it, "my stories") while I alternately browsed Pinterest and read a novel I borrowed electronically from the library.

Something wonderful happened.  Something that hasn't happened in months.  I got the itch to bake just for fun.  This used to be such a regular occurrence.  Then my life got so overwhelmingly full of responsibilities that I didn't have time to do something just because I felt like it.  Plus I was baking for so many other people's events that I didn't ever have the chance to bake just for enjoyment.

It felt weird to think about baking something just for the fun of it.  Where would I start?  What would I make?  I considered making cut-out sugar cookies and trying some new piping techniques for decoration.  However, that would take hours and I wasn't sure how long this urge would stick around before I might scare it off.  So I searched "summer cookies" on Pinterest.  You know--since I was so happy with the summeryness of the day.  I found some fantastic ideas.

I got up off the stories/novel/Pinterest couch and worked on getting dinner in the oven.  It was a recipe I had found in a magazine awhile back that turned out to be a huge hit the first time I made it (about a month ago).  It was a huge hit tonight as well!  Sometimes just not having to fight anyone over eating dinner feels like a huge victory.

If you're curious about the recipe, here it is:

After dinner Jared took the kids to go play on the soggy playground at the nearby school while I got to baking.  I was nearly giddy.

I chose a recipe that was new and summery without being too fussy or time-consuming.  I made Pina Colada Cake Mix Cookies from Eat At Home.  When I made the frosting for the cookies, I chose to make it a bit thin, more like a glaze.  I turned each cooled cookie upside-down and dipped the cookies into the glaze (rather than spreading the frosting on top of each cookie).  It was faster this way, and I liked the effect of the thin coating of pineapple-coconut glaze.

Jared LOVED the cookies and even called them "dangerous."  I liked them and would make them again, but I would probably make a couple tweaks to the recipe to amp up the flavors.  But that didn't stop me from eating more than just one or two.

My kids came home fantastically muddy from playing at the school, and then they all showered and came out soft and tan and smelling good as they told me tales from their adventures with Dad this evening. 

This really has been such a fantastic day.  This, to me, is the quintessential summer day.  Some playfulness, imagination, laziness, inventiveness, productiveness, togetherness, aloneness, eatingness.  Ok, now I'm just making up words, but you get the idea.

Oh, AND I wrote a blog post.  So really this day was unbelievably good!

Jessica

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Blogger, my pictures, and my new computer were once best friends.  There was a falling out.  The details aren’t important.  We’re slowly working to patch things up.  In the meantime, my tech nerd husband has worked tirelessly to come up with a solution to let me *try* to blog again.  We will get through this difficult time together.

Here’s the blog post I tried to write when everything fell apart.  Now I’m just trying to publish my post about St. Patrick’s Day before Easter gets here!

St. Patrick's Day brings out my inner Fun Mom.  It's not the actual holiday that gets me excited; it's the chance to do fun stuff with food.  Just part of who I am.

I tend to stick with "green" as the theme rather than Irish.  So I browsed Pinterest (of course) and gathered some ideas for this year's Green Day.

When the kids came out to the kitchen for breakfast, they found Trix cereal and Lucky Charms (a rare treat in our house) along with some cute notes.

The Trix free printable is from Smart School House, and the Lucky Charms free printable is from Blue Skies Ahead.  I found that Lucky Charms idea on a roundup on the blog Happy Home Fairy.  I got lost for HOURS reading posts on Happy Home Fairy.  Seriously, I got sucked into her stories of everything her family has gone through with a very ill baby.  I wish we were friends in real life.

We didn't really do anything special for lunch on St. Patrick's Day.  Nolan couldn't even eat lunch because he had to have a tooth extracted.  That wasn't in my original St. Patrick's Day plan.

I tried to fill our dinner with as many green foods as possible.  And of course there were multiple desserts.

The kids have fun polka dot plates, and mine is boring blue.

Our main dish was Zucchini Bites (using zucchini I had frozen from my garden last year!), and our sides were sugar snap peas and kiwis. 

After the kids ate their dinners, they got TWO mystery desserts.  I made them eat them to guess what they were.

Are you curious?  One was pistachio pudding (first time any of us had ever tried it), and the other was Jolly Ranchers Green Apple Jello.  The kids were expecting lime, so it took them a bit to identify the flavor.  Nora kept calling the pistachios "acorns," and Nolan liked the flavor but got totally creeped out by the texture of the pudding.  It actually made me laugh nearly to the point of peeing.

I even made the kids a special drink.  I froze Lemon Lime Koolaid in ice cube trays.  I put a few green ice cubes in each glass and poured Sierra Mist (one of the only Nolan-safe sodas) over the ice.

After dinner we went to watch Jared's basketball game.  I bribed told the kids that if they behaved well at the game, I had extra desserts back at home.  It's clearly overkill, but I just can't help myself.

I had made key lime bars and green Rice Krispies treats with Lucky Charms marshmallows.

Boy those photos are not good quality!  But I don't want to push anything since I JUST got Blogger to upload my pictures at all.

I used the Creamy Lime Bars recipe from Eat, Live, Run.  I saw a bag of key limes at the grocery store and decided to use those.  Unfortunately, we do not have a citrus juicer.  I squeezed an entire bag of teeny limes by hand.

I used the St. Patrick's Day Rice Krispies Treats recipe on Classy Clutter.  I opened a box of Lucky Charms and separated a bunch of marshmallows from the cereal.

I was using an opened box of Rice Krispies for this recipe, and I didn't have quite enough.  Then I had a bright idea--I used the Lucky Charms cereal!  I actually really liked the crunch the Lucky Charms cereal added to the final treats.

See?  I told ya I'm a sucker for holiday food fun.

Aaaannd, I finally completed a whole blog post without my pictures disappearing, losing all my progress--twice, or the website crashing.  Yes, all those things previously happened just while I was trying to write this post.

I hope to see you back here again sometime before the seasons change!

Jessica