Does it get any better than this?!

It's no secret that I'm not a big morning person, or a big breakfast person.  I'm more like the type of person that says 'give me my coffee and leave me alone until I wake up' haha :) But I have found a whole new appreciation for my least favorite part of the day and my least favorite breakfast item; pancakes.  And you will not believe how amazingly good this recipe is!  Talk about spicing up an ordinary dish into something that's over the top decadant! And the crazy part is, they are SIMPLE to make!  I came across this recipe from my favorite blog site Making Memories with Your Kids (that girl does amazing things!).  The recipe is for Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and you can find all the directions and ingrediants right here --> Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
I didn't have a squeeze bottle handy so I used a pastry bag instead and that worked fine.  I also made the creamcheese frosting (fabulous!) but on the link there are 3 different types of frosting recipes to choose from (she's awesome, right?!) 
Even if you don't like pancakes, these are a must try and trust me, they will not disappoint! 

They have cinnamon sugar swirled in the pancake batter! These looked great even in the pan!

The outcome was pure ooey gooey goodness!

He LOVED them and so did his little brother!

Motherhood - "God is not above these moments"

Motherhood is Application

One of my girlfriends posted this link of FB and when I read it this morning it really hit home for me. It's so easy to lose our patience, at least it is for me, when we are trying to 'do it all' and have everything be perfect in non perfect situations.  God is with us for the amazing, crazy, demanding, ride known as motherhood and this article was a nice reminder that we can turn to him to help guide us through the times in our life when we have reached our last bit of patience (which is daily for me).  God has shown each of us such foregiveness, grace and unconditional love that it's the right choice to show our kids these exact things in to glorify Him, and yes, even when everything is going wrong.
(I believe the kitchen part was written just for me as this tends to be my most stressful part of the day) So, here's to more burned dinners and dishes left dirty in the sink in the hopes of more opportunities to stop what I'm doing and show my children "the grace that God has extended to me and feed my children with it." To "apply what I believe about God's mercy and kindness and suffering towards us and pour it out to them."
I attended a sisterhood event at my church last night and they challenged each woman there to pick something in your life, something that isn't perfect (perhaps something you keep in the 'closet' and never talk about) and change it over the next 30 days.  After reading this article, my challenge to myself will be on a daily basis to to show my children the mercy of God through my actions towards them. I'm not exactly sure what this will look like but as the article stated, "Trust God, give thanks.  Laugh, Believe - and that will feed your children.  Rest in God and your children will learn to."
Happy Tuesday! I hope it's full of many blessed mothering moments!

Buckeyes - An amazing peanut butter treat!

It couldn't have been any hotter today! Really! We broke a record for the hottest day ever. Complete craziness if you ask me; this girl needs some brisk-ness in the air!  In fact, I believe some of my skin may have melted off when I stepped outside to go to church this morning.  So, who in their right mind would turn on the oven for a sweet treat?!  Not me!  But that didn't stop me from 'baking' up something special.  And who could resist more peanut butter goodness? Not me!  So, I stepped into the kitchen and put together some oh sooo yummy, oh soo not diet friendy (but who cares when it's this hot), oh sooo irresistble Buckeyes.  The recipe I used came from Sweet Escapes and the outcome was dinner skipping awesomeness!

 Oh how I love peanut butter!  Just the smell of it made me want to start eating it right from the measuring cup!  But I continued on and added the PB to my mixer with some cream cheese, butter, powered sugar and graham cracker crumbs...these ingrediants combined equals complete bliss if you ask me!

I hope this doesn't look too ghetto :) I do not have an official double boiler so I just make do with what I have and it turned out perfectly. I also used milk chocolate because it's what I had in the house and my husband likes it better than dark chocolate (which is what the recipe calls for).

All lined up on wax paper and ready to start the dipping process!

 In the refrigerator they went to cool down...

And the outcome was heavenly! I seriously cannot stop eating them. This is by far the best 'no bake' dessert I've ever had!  Happy 'baking'!

Thursday...Thirsty Anyone?

Thursday....ohh how I remember when it used to be 'thirsty Thursday' and the big decision was what frat house we were going to go too and who was going to be the sober one who watched out for the rest of us! My Thursday's are a lot different these days, but I still like to bring back the 'thirsty' every now and than! So today I'm going to give a shout out to my college days and I'm posting my favorite drink...a LIT (long island iced tea).  Though it was more like beer from a keg back in college, this is my current preferred drink.  I think I use this as my 'go to' because I only need one in order to get that ear to ear smile. (you know what I'm talking about!  When you feel good enough to smile that big yet you're still sober enough to walk straight!)  It's a perfect start to a thirsty kinda night!  Happy drinking :)

Ingredients

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce white rum
• 1 ounce tequila
• 1/2 ounce Triple Sec
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup cola, or to taste
• 2 lemon wedges

Peanut Butter S'more Stuffed Brownies

I made these the other day as my treat for losing 10% of my weight!  After 2 kids, 3 years of marriage, and 3 moves in 4 years the weight tends to sneak up on you.  So I went back to my tried and true diet; weight watchers.  It's worked wonders in the past and it's working again!  Okay, enough of that... the only edit I made to this recipe was that I used Reese's peanut butter cups instead of Hershey bars (I'm a sucker for peanut butter!) and they were fantastic!  My only side note is that it was hard for me to tell when they were baked through so I ended up over-baking them a little...either way, still delious!  And I sent the leftovers into work with my husband the next day...he tells me they were gone in minutes! 
 
The recipe comes from pickey palate.  You can find it here S'more Stuffed Brownies

Back to School - Jitter Glitter

Not sure exactly where this orginated from but it's such a cute idea for those little ones in your life who are about to emark on the new adventure of school!  Since my boys are too little for the 1st day of school jitters, I decided to send this to my nephews who will be going to Pre-K and Kindergarden this year.  Below is the poem and a picture of one that I made (though the baggie of glitter is not in the pic).  I just printed out the poem in a fun color, framed it with solid scrapbook paper and did a larger frame of school themed paper. I bought some crafting glitter at Michaels and put some in a little baggie and attached with a paper clip. In the mail it goes today; I think the boys will enjoy it!

The night before school is exciting and fun. There's always so much to be done.
Your clothes are ready.
Your backpack is too.
Your classroom is full of fun things to do.
There are so many questions going through your mind,
So many thoughts of every kind.
Sometimes teachers and kids get the jitters down deep.
And find it hard to fall asleep.
This magic glitter is a present for you.
It will help you be rested and ready for school.
Just sprinkle a little upon your head.
Tonight before you go to bed.
The glitter will help you sleep through the night
And wake in the morning fresh and bright.
We'll sprinkle some on our heads too
Remember, they just can't wait to begin Kindergarten with you!

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

For some reason, this just looks and sounds delicious! I will be making and eating it in the near future and I'll be sure to let you know how yummy it turned out! 

Find the recipe here: Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal Recipe