Ham Sliders

These ham sliders are so good! I found the recipe a couple of years ago at My Litter, who got the recipe from Vanilla Kitchen. We make them for a quick, easy dinner and have them quite a bit during football season. I've even taken them to church for our snack fellowship and came home with an empty pan. They go together quickly and bake in no time.

Ham and Cheese Sliders

recipe from Vanilla Kitchen

2 TB dried minced onions
1 TB Dijon mustard (I used 2 TB)
2 TB poppy seeds
I used a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 stick melted butter
1 dozen dinner rolls (We use Sara Lee)
1/2 pound ham
1/2 pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese (We use baby swiss)

Preheat oven to 325°.
In a small mixing bowl mix onion, mustard, poppy seeds, and melted butter.
Leaving the dinner rolls intact, slice them open so that you have one solid top and bottom. Don’t slice each one open, but rather as a whole.
Place the bottom half on a baking sheet or in a 9×13 inch baking pan, the pan size will depend on choice of rolls.
Line the bottom half of the rolls with cheese slices and ham.
Return the top part of the rolls and drizzle the butter mixture evenly over top.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Use a sharp knife to separate the sandwiches.

Thanksgiving Turkey Treat Bags

Big Brother wanted to make something to take to school and share with his classmates for Thanksgiving. I just wanted to make something that wasn't messy. After the Halloween party a few weeks ago, I know what 21 1st graders can do with cupcakes and cookies and didn't want to put his teacher through that mess again so soon. So we came up with a turkey treat bag that we filled with goodies to share with his friends. The turkeys were so quick to make and will be an easy treat to hand out at the end of the school day.

Just start with a brown paper lunch bag.
I started by folding the bag over on the crease and cutting off the top portion so the turkey wouldn't be too big.
I then folded over the open top of the bag about 1/2 inch in order to staple the feathers on later.
Big Brother carefully decorated turkey faces using his markers by drawing eyes, beak and waddle on each bag.
He also helped fill each bag with a package of cookies and a few mini Hershey bars. I used my paper cutter to cut strips of construction paper to use as feathers. We simply folded the paper strips in half and stapled them to the back of the bag.
Big Brother personalized them by writing each of his classmate's names on their turkey. He had so much fun and is so proud of his creation. He can't wait to take them to school in the morning!

Cereal Box into Mail Organizer

I'm so addicted to Pinterest it isn't even funny. What's sad is I spend more time pinning than actually making anything I've pinned. So today, I decided to make something. I had this cute mail holder pinned and decided to give it a try.

I took one of the many empty boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats that my boys have inhaled and made a straight cut down from the top corner.


Here's what it looks like from the front.


I was totally lazy and just used double sided tape to stick my scrapbook paper onto it. I even used regular tape on the backside. It's not like anyone's going to see it. Then I attached three self adhesive magnets on the back.


It provides a little bit of organization to my alphabet magnet/artwork/photo covered fridge. Yeah, just a little bit.

Happy Halloween

No Bull

As we were driving home this afternoon, Big Brother randomly said, "Bulls can throw you off."

Hubs immediately replied, "That's why you don't ride your dinner."

Stormtrooper Down

Looking for droids really takes its toll.

Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

These are the yummiest cinnamon rolls I've ever made! My whole family loves them and they are definitely one of our favorite breakfasts. I found the recipe here. They are really easy from start to finish. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead the dough. It's rolls out easily too.

Here they are right out of the oven.

After the icing, they are ready to devour. Yummy!

Darth Starts 1st Grade

Cherry Pie

I LOVE cherry pie! My mom makes the best cherry pie and it's always been my favorite. I am not a pie baker. I suck at pies. I've tried to make a couple before to no avail. This time was a little better. I made a homemade crust which actually turned out pretty good.

I did get the edges a little overdone. Told you I suck. I know I should have put foil around the edges, but didn't even think about it. It didn't matter. I ate it anyway and it was delicious. Maybe I'll be a pie pro after all...with a lot more practice.

Happy Birthday Big Brother

Sonic...Yum

I'll have a New York Dog. Hold the Spicy Mustarad. Thanks!

Mmmmm.....Good

Hubs smoked ribs today. I've never liked ribs until I ate these. Oh my gosh! I could have eaten the whole slab. If you think these look good, you should see his smoked beans.

This is for the Birds

We made ice cream cone treats for the birds today.
First we spread peanut butter all over the cone.

Then we rolled the cones in a bowl of bird seed.

Added a few Cheerios.

Ready for the birds.

Crazy Vs. Normal

Do you ever have one of those "crazy mom" moments? If you're anything like me, you probably have them a lot.

I was filming the boys just being wild in the living room this afternoon. Baby Jaws was explaining to me how the "football guy" holds the football and throws it into the air. The boy was right and has quite a spiral at the ripe old age of three. Big Brother had his work gloves on and was building a floor that he had purchased at Staples. (Imaginations run rampant in this house.) They began dancing. I kept filming. 'Jingle Bells' and 'Happy Birthday' were sung and then an argument over whose birthday was next ensued. Before I turned the camera off, I asked them to say "bye". It's just a really weird thing I do every time I film them. I never want to just cut them off; I always want them to end it with a sweet good-bye.

They both said, um yelled, "BYE!" and I just couldn't press the stop button. Big Brother began acting like a cat and Baby Jaws asked, "Want some cat food?" I just couldn't stop my camera. I sat there watching them through the view finder and started crying. Yep, I filmed them and cried.

I thought to myself, 'What if I would have stopped the camera? Look at all you would have missed, Crazy Mom. Don't you want to watch this great performance 20 years from now? How can you even think about pushing that little red button?'

And I wanted to film them forever.

Sometimes it breaks my heart how fast my boys are growing up. Breaks. My. Heart.

Queue Crazy Mom. When my heart is breaking, sometimes I do crazy things. Sometimes I read the journals I've been keeping for them since they were born...and I cry. Sometimes I look at pictures of them when they were babies...and I cry. Sometimes I remember how Big Brother used to pronounce "ketchup"; he would say "parcher"...and I cry. Sometimes I remember how Baby Jaws used to say his prayers every night; he would pray, "Bub, bub, bub, bub, dad, dad, dad, dad, mom, mom, mom, mom, papa, papa, men (his amen)"...and I cry.

And I can guarantee every time I'm being crazy and crying over my babies growing up too fast, my husband will come along and catch me and ask, "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Because I'm Crazy Mom, that's why. And shut up with the "they don't stay little forever" line! It just makes me cry even more. (Men just don't understand.)

But maybe, just maybe, I'm not crazy. Maybe I'm normal. Surely I'm not the only mom on earth who cries over her babies growing up too fast right before her eyes. Surely I'm not the only mom who cries when looking through baby pictures. Surely I'm not the only mom who cries while filming her kids doing really funny things.

Yeah, surely.

First Baseball Game

Just because I'm too big for t-ball doesn't mean I'm too big to play in the dirt during the middle of the game.

Happy Birthday Baby Jaws

Turd Words

Big Brother wanted to play with my Up Words game tonight. He loves to practice his spelling with it. Little did I know he was spelling some of his favorite words: turd bucket & butt crack. I'm so proud. He is pretty good at sounding out words. I'll give him that.

After the Storm

Who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:12

I sometimes wonder who is judging me whether it's something I say, something I blog about or even what I put on my Facebook status. I'm not perfect. I say things I shouldn't. I do things I shouldn't. I get mad over stupid little things. And I judge people everyday.

I've been remembering a devotion I did at Youth Camp when I was a counselor. It was titled, "Love sinners, hate sin". It's something I think we all forget. Jesus didn't keep himself from sinners. He searched them out. It's who he came for. It's who he died for. After all, we're all sinners.

We can disagree with things that people do or say, but we should love them no matter what. I'm just tired of hearing how bad certain "types" of people are. And who says they're bad? A human with human judgment.

We're not to judge them. We're to love them. Period. We can disagree, even hate what they do, but we love them because that's what Jesus does.

"Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken." —Rich Mullins

The Joy of Toys

I just love Toys R Us...the happy little faces...the wonder of thousands of new toys...the "Glad it's you & not me" looks I get from other parents as I drag my screaming 2 year old away from the Power Wheels...the 40 year old men examining Hot Wheels like they're rare diamonds...the look of disappointment on Daddy's face as Big Brother chooses a Toy Story Jessie doll over Legos...not being able to open Jessie's box without a knife, scissors or blowtorch...enjoying watching Hubs try as he says, "Crap!" each time he comes upon a new twist tie.