Recipe- Peanut Butter Cake

Recipe:

2 & 1/4 c. Flour
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. butter (room temperature)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 & 1/4 c. milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a 13 x 9 pan. In a large bowl, mix the first 4 ingredients with an electric mixer; blend at low speed until crumbly. Add the next 5 ingredients and blend at low speed until everything is wet, then beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan and bake, in the middle of your oven, for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out clean.

Let the cake cool (in the pan) for 10 minutes, then spread the frosting on the hot cake (recipe follows) and sprinkle one cup of mini-chocolate chips over the frosting.

Peanut Butter Honey Frosting-

1 CUP PEANUT BUTTER 

4 TABLESPOONS RAW HONEY 

2 TEASPOON VANILLA EXTRACT 

4 CUPS POWDERED SUGAR 

8-9TABLESPOONS MILK

Warm the peanut butter and honey in the microwave just until it gets soft and easy to stir, then add everything else and beat until smooth. Spread over hot cake and sprinkle with one cup of mini-chocolate chips.

Publix Trip - 6/14/13

Spent $27.40 - Saved $36.57 (should have been $40, fish sticks didn't ring up buy one get one) 

Here is what I got:

No coupon items-

Mountain Dew for the ride home 

Gallon of milk

Salad mix

3 on the vine tomatoes

4 sticks of salted butter

Coupon items:

2 mrs Paul's fish sticks

4 bottles of juicy juice

2 lunchables

2 packs of armour pepperonis

2 packs of Perdue chicken nuggets

2 boxes of fruit snacks 

Not a bunch this week but still worth it :) 

Blessings! 

Feed Me Seymour!

Well that escalated quickly! :)

At least they shared!!! 

Happy Friday! 

Take me to the RIVER...

This past Tuesday the kids and I packed up to head to a cabin in the woods.

My mom rents this cabin every year and made it seem like it was going to be one of those cabins you see in scary movies. Its secluded she says, there is nothing nearby to shop at she says. Insert panic mode.

We decided, ok *I* decided this would be a great idea. To pack three kids, by myself, drive 2 hours north, and sit in a cabin and swim in a river - with fish - anyone who knows me, KNOWS I do NOT do fish... UGH!!

I am doing this for the kids - I am doing this for the kids - I am doing this for the kids!!!

So, after finding a sitter for our lovely pup, Jude - we headed out.

With my navigator AKA Skylar at my side we headed north.
We arrived 2 hours later to thee most beautiful cabin in the woods - after we passed a Walmart, Winn Dixie and a Dollar General... ( Nothing nearby? Psh)
We pulled up and it was breathtaking... trees dripping with Moss, A hammock next to the brick firepit by the beautifully clear river. Kayaks lined the shore by the dock. The inside decorate with tons and tons of ducks - the name of the cabin was Wood Duck Crossing. Yes, they name their cabins.

It was a beautiful full stocked 2 story home. 4 bedroom, 2 bath and an outside shower. Complete with board games - we played Monopoly, Skylar whipped us... and DVDs - we watched Little Miss Sunshine... and a nice kitchen... Momma made us Spaghetti for dinner, supplied us with tons of lunch meat and then made us Pancakes the next morning for breakfast. There was fresh fruit cut on the counter for walk-by snacking and drinks in the fridge. Yeah, we are kinda spoiled.  My 3 brothers even came down, it is rare to have us all together.

It was perfect! I learned to Kayak. Dakota swam all day, Eli loved throwing Pine Cones off the dock and Skylar took about 24 hours to warm up to the idea of being outdoors without her electronics, but she finally made it out and kayaked with Gramps. We only stayed one night. But it was great. It filled my heart meter back up and I SOOOO needed that. I have been feeling defeated lately.

We are now home and refreshed for what ever comes next...

Here are some photos from our trip...

View from the Porch

Skylar on the hammock

Dakota and Grandpa kayaking

Eli and Grammie on the big float

View from the deck

Homeschool: May Theme: Butterflies and Caterpillars

This month we took an extended time on our theme...

We studied caterpillars and butterflies and how God makes us a new creation!
We also threw in some Mothers Day fun and some beach time!



We learned about the life cycle of these amazing creatures!

We made a paper chain caterpillar with 10 loops and we counted the loops as we glued them...

And we made butterfly coffee filter paintings which didnt really look like butterflies ;)

We decorated our own butterflies learning that we are unique and different from each other...

We learned about the number six and how fun it was to write!!

The boys made me some Mothers Day pictures...

FEATURED!

Here is the back story -

For Mothers Day, I saw a local website asking for donations of items for a raffle. And since I am all about freebies, I offered up one of my items from Joyful Blessings.  When I emailed her, I explained what I did and why...

She replied back enthusiastic! Instead of throwing my item in with all the others she wanted to do a full page on my business!! I was so excited. She said she was busy for Mothers Day but to email her back after the holiday and she would do it. I never expected to hear form her again, but RIGHT AFTER Mothers Day - she emailed me!

I couldnt believe she actually wanted to feature me! I was beyond excited!
She asked if I had something I wanted to give away and she said she loved the capes... SO I whipped up a cape especially for the post for a give away...

Ane it posted today! Yay!!

Here is the link!

Macaroni Kid - Brandon

So go check em out and sign up to win a freebie!!

I am super over the moon about it and I hope it brings tons of awareness!

Blessings,

I Run For...

Recently in one of my many Down syndrome groups someone posted a listing.
It intrigued me...

It said...

Hello everyone, I'm Tim Boyle, Founder and Executive Director of a group called "I Run For..." We pair up runners and other athletes with children and adults with special needs and they do all of their workouts, exercising, and runs in their honor. Right now we have several runners on the waiting list hoping to be paired with someone special. If you are interested please check out the fb page. If you are interested in having your special someone paired up send me a message or comment on this post. Here is the link to the page...
www.facebook.com/groups/irunformichael

I thought, "What a great idea!"

So I joined the page and added Dakota's name to the list. We were paired up with a runner that very night.
I have to say, I had no idea what it was even about, but the thought of someone running for Dakota made my heart smile. Dakota is not a great runner, heck he doesnt even really run at all, he kind of does this weird skipping hopping thing. I know he will someday. And he is still fast, but someone who can run, like really run - run... Like marathons and not casual runs across the block runs was an awesome thought.

Our runner posts his runs and workouts in the group and tags us in them to motivate us to keep trying, and we in turn post things for him, to keep him motivated.

Awesome concept!

I just thought I would share. And if you know anyone who would like to sign up as a runner or as a person who is ran for, then the link is above.

Many blessings!!