Preschool Thankful Trees

What are you thankful for? Most of us would quickly say our family or friends, or maybe our home. But what if we think a little further. Are you thankful for your heater? running water? a soft bed? food in the fridge? The best way to think simply about thankfulness is to ask a 3 year old. This month in my classroom we have been focusing more on thanking God for our blessings since Thanksgiving is coming up soon. We find ways to be thankful year round during our chapel time and by praying before meals but now it's specifically part of our curriculum.

My favorite kind of art project is one where the kids get to personalize it in their own special way. For this project I asked them what they were thankful for...(in a variety of ways so they would understand, because I know thankfulness can be a bit abstract for a preschooler.) The other preparations for this craft included cutting out leaf shapes from magazines and brown rectangles for the tree stump. Overall a very easy craft to make, and if you have older kids they could cut out their own leaves!

My favorite is the one that says, "Mommy, Daddy, God, Jesus, and Mickey Mouse" :)

Clothes Pin Christmas Card Wreath

How do you display your Christmas cards? Do you tape them to the stair railing? Throw them in a basket? Magnets on the fridge? Last year I put ribbon around my kitchen cabinets and used mini clothes pins to hold the cards in place. I liked that all right, but I'm always looking for new ways to be creative. A few weeks ago I was inspired by {of course} the one and only Pinterest. I found this wreath made out of clothes pins to hold Christmas cards so I thought I would give it a try... I was originally inspired by Craftiness is not optional but I ended up doing a few things differently.

 First, I painted all my pins with acrylic craft paint in red, green, and white. After letting them dry I wanted a little something more so I added stripes to the white pins and polka dots to the red ones. After that I found a wire hanger and {mostly} bent it into a circular shape. Then I put the clothes pins on the hanger and sealed the ends of the hanger with my handy glue gun and added some ribbon to cover the leftover wire.

Ta-Da! My final product. What do you think? Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Now to put it away for a few more weeks until I start getting cards in the mail!

fall is here

At the beginning of every season I'm always excited for something. When it's spring time I'm excited to see more of the sun and all the beautiful flowers blooming everywhere. When summer comes around I can't wait to wear flip flops and lay out in the sun endlessly reading books. When winter comes...well, I love Christmas so winter is good because of that (however, by the end of January I'm at a loss for things to like about winter). And then there is fall. My favorite of all the seasons. What's not to love about fall? Cooler weather. Boots. Leaves. Scarves. PSL. Fireplace. Thankfulness. Candles. Oh and pumpkin {everything}.

Right now my house smells so lovely ~ coffee beans in my kitchen table centerpiece, new apple ale candle, and pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars baking in the oven. Any time I can use pumpkin, molasses, and fall spices in the same recipe I am a very happy girl! My parents are coming to Seattle tomorrow and the whole family will be here for dinner so I'm breaking out the crock pot again to make a pot roast. Crock pot cooking isn't all that fun when only one person is eating (or I end up with a million freezer meals of the same thing!). I can't wait to have people here to cook for and to eat with. My home feels empty with just one or two people. I crave a crowd.

I blame my mother for this feeling I have. Growing up there were always people in our home- after school, coming over for dinner, holiday meals- everyone came to our house for these things. It wasn't until middle school that I started to realize it wasn't normal to have people over for dinner three or four (or more) times a week. Feeding people is both my mom's love language and her spiritual gift, and I feel that I have inherited these things as well. Making someone a home-cooked meal or bringing treats to work is my way of blessing those around me (and also feeling blessed myself). Why not make someone's day a little bit better if I have the time and ability to?

"...Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35b

The Best Sugar Cookies EVER

I love to bake and am constantly trying new recipes, but when it comes to making holiday cookies I always turn to my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I try others, but they are never as good as this one! This past week I made a huge batch of heart shaped cookies for Valentine's Day and I'm already thinking about the Easter cookies to come in a few weeks! Maybe I need to order some new cookie cutters.... :)

Sugar Cookies
1 lb. softened butter (no wonder they're so good, right?)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 T. milk
2 T. almond extract (or vanilla, but the almond is what makes them special)
6 c. flour
1 T. baking powder

      Start by blending butter and sugar with a mixer (stand or hand will work just fine). Next add liquids- eggs, milk, and almond extract and blend until combined. Lastly blend in the flour and baking powder. It gets a little tough on a hand mixer when you get all 6 cups of flour in there, but you can always finish mixing with a spatula or even by using your hands.

      Once the dough is mixed (it will be a bit crumbly), flour your surface, drop a big scoop of dough down, and roll to desired thickness. I usually keep them on the thicker side so they will stay soft cookies as opposed to thin crunchy cookies. Cut out shapes and place them on a baking sheet (I use parchment so they don't stick or get as brown on the bottom). Bake at 350 for about 11 minutes or until they look set- one step before they turn brown! Take them out of the oven and let them sit for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack. They will stay good for about a week in a air tight container (although mine NEVER last that long) or you can store them in the freezer for eating at a later date (or eating frozen, yum!).

If I don't plan on frosting the cookies (or dipping them in chocolate- a real crowd pleaser, by  the way!) I will cover them with sprinkles before baking to make them a bit more festive. Because everything is always better with sprinkles right? I'm a three year old at heart :)

Birthday Blessings

November always brings so many things to be thankful for and I think it's a good reminder for me to stop and take the time to remember all the blessings in my life. This weekend I was able to celebrate my birthday with some of the most wonderful people I know! Thursday afternoon Luke and I went to see Wicked and it was incredible! I have been listening to the soundtrack since July and it was so fun to finally see the production. Friday I went to work and had a class of two year olds sing "happy birthday" to me which was very fun. Little "J" kept telling me it was our birthday. I said no, its my birthday and he laughed and so noooo its OUR birthday. Well, I'm okay sharing with that sweet little boy. Then we had story time at church and the kids sang "happy birthday" and we had mini cupcakes to celebrate. One of the 2 1/2 year olds kept saying, "It's Emily's birthday! We have to sing to her!!" It was very cute. And then last night we went out with my brother, his girlfriend, and my roomie for dinner at Buca di Beppo and dessert at home (salted caramel pear pie- yum!) I'm so thankful for all these wonderful people who made my birthday a very special one.

November Blessings Part 2:
10. Productive days getting lots of chores done.
11. Peaceful Sunday mornings at KidTown.
12. Playing with a sweet 2 year old, reading him stories, and putting him to bed.
13. The warmth of a heater.
14. Kids who remember your birthday from last year.
15. Loving parents.
16. Flowers and sweet cards from Luke.
17. Going out to dinner with some of my favorite people whom I love dearly.
18. Children who are generous with their giving.

I am looking forward to a short work week and celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday with Luke and his family. I'm excited to bake cookies and make sweet potatoes, do a little shopping, spend time with people I love, and continue remembering all the things I have to be thankful for.

company=cupcakes

Last night I was babysitting two boys from church, age 5 and 2 and it was so fun listening to all the things they had to say. The older boy told his mom, while at the grocery store a few days ago, that since I don't come over all the time that means I'm "company." And when you have company over that means you should have dessert after dinner. SO he succeeded in getting his mom to buy yellow cupcakes at the store. Can't disagree with that "company's coming over" logic now can ya? Also, the two year old boy was convinced that his mom and dad were out eating ice cream for dinner, no matter how much I tried to tell him they probably weren't eating ice cream he kept saying "ice cream! dinner!" and then laughing like he knows all the answers :)

My newest Halloween rearrangement.
Thanks, Luke :)

In other news, I'm going to the pumpkin patch today and am very excited! I've been praying all night that it doesn't rain on us while we're there. Then tonight we're carving the pumpkins and making a yummy dinner. It will be a very festive fall day and I can't wait!

pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin

The past few days have really started to feel like fall in Seattle and I'm loving every second of it. I never thought I would see the day that I was celebrating the sun not shining. It's been cloudy all week and we're supposed to have up to 4 inches of rain this weekend! I'm so excited I could squeal :) All that to say, fall is probably my favorite season. And fall means pumpkin EVERYTHING ~ muffins, bread, lattes, cheesecakes, cookies, etc. Thank you pinterest for supplying me with a lifetime supply of pumpkin recipes!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Pumpkin Mousse Brownie Triffle

Two ingredient pumpkin cake

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate

Pumpkin Fudge

Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin Spice Thumbprint Cookies

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Pumpkin Pie Crepes

Pumpkin Better Than.... Cake

Pumpkin Spice Latte Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Perfect Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Molasses Cookies

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

And last but not least, who doesn't love a good pumpkin spice latte??

Halloween Bark

Last night Luke came over for dinner and we finished watching Lord of the Rings. He told me that I needed to watch all three before the Hobbit movie comes out this Christmas so I semi-unwillingly obliged because I knew it was important to him. Who knew I would become so obsessed with finishing the three movies asap? Between Gimli and Aragorn I was definitely a happy girl. All that to say, we had a nice evening in, but I was in a baking-make-something-from-pinterest mood :) Enter Halloween Bark! I got the inspiration from this site, but I altered mine a bit. (My mom would be so proud! hah) I used about a half a package of Halloween Oreos, probably a cup of broken pretzel pieces, a handful of Reese's Pieces, and a combo of melted chocolate chips and white chocolate (with festive sprinkles on top of course). Clearly this is an exact science and must be measured very carefully.... :) I took a container of the finished result to church today and it did not last very long in that office! I had to get it out of the house otherwise my roomie and I would have eaten every last piece!

Also, while I was in the kitchen Luke rearranged the letters from my
"Happy Halloween" window stickies....he is pretty clever, I'll give him that much!

Happy Halloween!

It's almost October and that means....Halloween decorations! I love all things festive, especially in the fall :) I'm looking forward to drinking more pumpkin spice lattes, dressing up for the Halloween parade at the daycare, and going to the pumpkin patch in a few weeks!

 

Pumpkin pancakes for breakfast this morning!
With warm spiced cider in my Amsterdam Starbucks mug too :)