Photo Friday

Well we celebrated a Birthday in our house this week! Our Dear Daddy and Husband turned the big 31! And we not only had a little celebration at home but we also celebrated with my dad as well... these pictures are from that little celebration..... 

Whats a Birthday celebration without a cake right! Delaney loved watching my Dad make this cake but even better than making a cake is.....

EATING IT! If you have a 2 year old you have likely seen and experienced this.... and if your anything like me you have multiple pictures like this!

Well that's a glimpse into my life this week! What did you do? Snap any good photo's of it?

Tell the Truth Thursday!

I am a BLOGAHOLIC!

Not only am I a blogaholic I still read them the old fashion way! I visit each blog individually, I don't have an RSS reader and I don't really care for them either. Maybe it's because I am a creature of habit, maybe it's because I prefer to take my time and enjoy stopping by each and everyone of the 40 blogs I regularly visit, either way I would rather check each and everyone individually. 

Once Delaney goes to bed a night I get my ME time and It usually starts with a HOT cup of tea and a little bit of chocolate, then its off to the blogs! I get to sit on my couch and slowly visit the blogs I follow, or even find a few more (see I told you it's an addiction). 

I guess I look at an RSS reader as taking the fun out of reading blogs, you don't get to look at the links in the sidebar or see if your favorite blog has a new look.... plus I get kind of a high from visiting a blog that hasn't updated in a while, and when the pages loads in and you see a new post it's like seeing an old friend that you haven't seen in a while. It's like opening up a Birthday gift you thought was one thing and seeing that it is really something else you know that one thing you asked for that you didn't think you'd get! It's wonderful!

How about you? Do you like RSS readers? Do you have one? Or do you have another issue when it comes to blogs?  Either way make sure you Tell the Truth and leave it in the comments!

Novice Knitter...

As I mentioned a few days ago I've started knitting, well I kind of knew how before but I am trying to learn a bit more and finally I making projects! I've gotten help from my mom who taught me in the first place but when she's not around (she lives about 20 mins away) I have been youtubing.... I was so surprised that there are so many videos on knitting. And lucky for me through there I found a great blog about knitting!

ChemKnits blog is filled with free patterns, videos, and tips for knitting from the very basic to more advanced. 

I found this a very helpful video on how to bind off your knitting when you have your project finished, as well as all her videos from her most recent post in which she has 5 videos outlining the basics of knitting!

If you are new to knitting or if you need a refresher, or your looking for a new pattern to try out visit ChemKnits!

Make it Monday!

Today's Make it Monday treat... Green Shamrock Sugar Cookies 

I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookie recipe book that was published a few years back and it has been my go to recipe for sugar cookies since then, I use it all year long! you can also find it here with directions to make Santa faces. Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

• 1/3  cup  butter (no substitutes)
• 1/3  cup  shortening
• 3/4  cup  sugar
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
•   Dash  salt
• 1    egg
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla
• 2  cups  all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Beat butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat till combined. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Cover dough and refrigerate about 3 hours or till easy to handle.

2. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface till 1/8 inch thick. Cut as desired. Place shapes 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 7 to 8 minutes or till the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

(please excuse my poor photography...)

To decorate I just melted down some chocolate chips and put the melted chips in a zip top baggie cut a small hole in the bag and decorated away, I usually just drizzle it over or outline as you can see in the picture above but you could always use the icing of  your choice, a friend of mine make cookie sandwiches out of her sugar cookies placing icing between two of the cookies! YUM!

I made a few alterations to the recipe to make them green, I added 1/2 the vanilla as I didn't want the food coloring to water down the recipe too much, and of course I used green food coloring to make them green. I used just regular food coloring but you could certainly use the gel colors you would use for coloring icing or fondant as it would change your texture and will give you a richer color. Also if you wanted a minty cookie you could use a mint extract rather than vanilla, or use mint flavor chocolate chips to decorate!

Hope you enjoy these YUMMY cookies as much as I do...

Do you have a recipe that you would like to share? If you stop by leave me a comment or a link to your favorite recipe!

Weekly to-do list...

I used to be a personal trainer at a big gym here in NL well they are big all over Canada but that's besides the point. I was also assistant manager there, so I dealt with all the patrons not just the clients I had while training and the one thing that they promote is writing down your goals. It helps to keep you on track with the goals and helps you to achieve those goals as you are holding yourself accountable to them. So in the interest of keeping on track with what I need to or want to get done each week I will be posting a list of my weekly goals, including the things I "need" to-do, "want" to-do and crafty things that I want to cross off my BIG to-do list. 

Weekly to-do list March 6th to March 12th

1. Fix my slippers... they only cost me two dollars but I love them and the bottom is coming off of them so they need to be sewn back toether.

2. Finish the burp cloths that I started last week... need to sew up the opening left to turn it right side out and finish the edge.

3. Finish the bibs that I started last week... same as the burp cloths...

4. Knit 3 more dish cloths... They don't have a pattern they are just a straight knit (mainly because I am just starting to knit and am not great at the other techniques)

5. Make Sugar cookie cut-outs for St Patty's day... Look for the pictures and recipe as this weeks Make it Monday.

6. Make extra sugar cookies for Robyn's Birthday! His Birthday is Wednesday and I want to send him off on his birthday/first day of the new job with a nice little treat!

Not Pictured

7. Make Robyn's Birthday Cake and Cards with Delaney.

8. Go to and be on time for 2 Dr.'s apts this week... it's my first OB apt and I will likely get my apt for my 20 week ultrasound!

9. Make bread...  I do this almost every week it helps us keep on budget and personally I prefer it

10. The usual weekly/ daily household things... Laundry, cleaning the floors, keeping the house clean and all that stuff (it's my least favorite part of being a stay at home momma)

WOW that seems a lot longer than I thought it would be... well if it needs to be done it will be done... 

What do you have on your to-do list this week?