GingerBread Houses!

Back in November the kids made gingerbread houses at a workshop here in town.  It was so fun because we went to The Castle and the ladies had everything set up for us.  We paid a fee for each house and the kids got to build their houses and eat candy.

This is Layla's house:

I love the curvy Chex cereal sidewalk!

I also love the fire pit, and it's lit!

The side of the house features the dogs food and water bowls.  The dog is there also, but she's hard to see.  She's made of tootsie rolls.

Layla did a wonderful job and I barely helped her at all.

Here is Hayden's house:

I did have to help him a little more.  He needed it, but I tried to make him do as much as possible.

Hayden has a fire pit and a log pile!

He ate more marshmallows than he used on his house.

I will sign the kids up for the gingerbread workshop again next year.  I don't have the patience to build the houses here at home.  The lovely ladies of The Castle guided us and helped me so much.   I couldn't get the walls to stick and it made me crazy!  They also clean up everything!  It's win win and we have loved having the houses on display as Christmas decorations.

sloppy joe .... sloppy sloppy joe. casserole

Somewhere floating around the internet I came upon a recipe for Sloppy Joe Casserole.  I thought it was on pinterest, but I looked on my boards and couldn't find it. Anyway,  I thought it sounded perfect for the kids.  I loved Sloppy Joe's as a child.  I loved the messy bun that falls apart while you eat it, but the clean up was awful.  Sloppy Joe casserole isn't sloppy at all, but it sure is tasty.  I've made this casserole several times, but tonight was our favorite way!

I love hiding veggies in this recipe.  Tonight I used zucchini, carrots and onions because it's what I had on hand.  You can use squash, or just about any veggie in my opinion.  The sauce of the Sloppy Joe mix makes it all taste like yummy pie.

So here is what I used:

1 carrot, chopped 1 medium zucchini, chopped 1/2 a white onion, chopped 1 pound ground turkey 1 can of Sloppy Joe sauce 2 refrigerated cans of crescent rolls 

I sauteed the chopped veggies in olive oil and set them aside.  I browned the turkey and then drained it and added the veggies and Sloppy Joe mix to the turkey.  I let it simmer for a bit while lining a greased pan with the first container of crescent rolls.  {Just smash them out flat on the bottom of a baking pan.}  Pour the warm Sloppy Joe goodness onto the crescent roll, then place the other container of crescent rolls on the top of the mix.

I baked it in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 24 minutes.  It started to look brown and I didn't want it to over cook.  I thought it would need to cook longer, but it was nice and warm and the crescents were even slightly crispy.  It was so good!!
I'm not sure why we love this so much.  The kids struggle with casseroles sometimes because they don't like all their food together, but they ate every bite.  I'm happy they got veggies without me having to MAKE them eat them.
It's such a great meal for a cold winter night!

our very own frosty the snowman

We got beautiful snow this weekend.  It was so amazing and the kids had a blast building a giant snowman with Gary!

Layla made tons of snow angels.

And of course I went into a picture taking craze.

Lily got all snow hyper.  She had a blast catching snowballs in her mouth.  She's a winter dog for sure.

The kids took building Frosty very seriously.

There I am...proof that I was there!

Look at the size of those snowballs.  I tried to help Gary lift one on top of the other and I couldn't.

That snowman had to be over 300 lbs.

Layla's face is so funny!

snowball eater....

Look, it's Frosty!

He's huge!!

Thanks dad for the amazing snowman!  We love him!!

smoothie love

My kids love smoothies lately.  

It is awesome because I can just throw a bunch of fruit into the blender and serve them breakfast.  I'll add some protein powder for added nutrition and they slurp them down.  

The smoothies above have Shaklee protein, frozen peaches, a banana, Greek yogurt and almond milk.

Layla's favorite is peanut butter, chocolate almond milk, Greek yogurt and a banana.

I think my all time favorite smoothie is organge juice, a frozen banana and frozen strawberries.  I like to add yogurt to all my smoothies for thinkness.

An easy and healthy breakfast is perfect for us on busy mornings before school!

What is your favorite smoothie?

feeling festive

It has been a fun week of getting the house all Christmasy.  

Our elf, Griswold, made his appearance.  He isn't full of mischief like many other elves.  Griswold just moves around the house to different areas to see how the kids are acting.  Thankfully our elf is a sweet guy and doesn't give this momma any grief.

The kids are thrilled about eating a chocolate every morning!  They love their traditional Advent calendars.  In years past we have done them at night, but this year we are doing them in the morning over breakfast.

Nothing says Christmas time like sausage balls.  They were so tasty and were gone in a flash! 

I love watching TV at night with Gary and seeing the tree glowing!  We are enjoying making fun Christmas memories.  I love this time of year!

a visit to the Christmas tree farm

Last year we had a fun time picking out our first real Christmas tree.  

We had so much fun we decided to do it again this year!  Every year before we moved to Ohio we've just had an artificial tree.  We started a new tradition upon moving north!

We walked through the rows of pre-cut trees and couldn't find anything we liked, so we walked up the hill with a tarp and a saw and picked our very own tree!

It was a real Griswold family moment, minus Audrey's eyes freezing! 

Look at this view.  It is amazing!

There she is!!!!!!

She is the perfect tree for our family.

Gary sawed her down in 3 minutes flat.

Layla showed real muscle by helping daddy pull the tree down the steep hill.  She did great.  We all got so muddy.  The tree farm was a nasty mess, but we had a fun time for sure.

And now we must decorate her!