Holiday Pretzel Bites

As I've said before, we are taking this month to really review what we have learned already to give us more time in the kitchen baking & at the table doing crafts leaving the weekends open to get out & "do" the holiday stuff in various parts of California.  We have been having a BLAST!!

Today in the kitchen I pulled out my easiest toddler recipe yet & let the crazies go to town.  We have named these treats Holiday Pretzel Bites & you literally unwrap Hersey Kisses, place them on pretzels, bake them, & top them with M&Ms.  I bought the peppermint kisses because 1. the crazies love peppermint & 2. they look pretty holiday-ish with the white & red!  My crazies were master unwrappers & did most of this treat by themselves.  While they baked in the oven at 250 degrees for 2 minutes, the crazies counted out the M&Ms & as soon as the timer went off they were placing those things on the kisses. It was a fun & quick treat & we have all enjoyed snacking on them all day long!

D was unwrapping & placing on the kisses

K was triyng to keep up -- everything is a race these days!

D got his hit to push the M&Ms down without burning his wrist

So proud of their own "baking" (aka: melting) skills

Gingerbread Men

We can't welcome Christmastime around here without making a batch of gingerbread men!  With soooo much to fit in this holiday season, we have scaled back on our learning time & teaching around here to make way for more baking, crafting, & doing lots of holiday things!  I've deemed Mondays our baking day since 1. it is our one day of the week where we have nothing so it won't matter if we are covered in flour until 3:00 and 2. to have a fresh batch of munchies for the week!  

This past Monday I made fudge & sugar cookies & invited the crazies into the kitchen to help make gingerbread men.  We had a blast.  Both got a turn to press out the dough & cut a full stone of gingerbread men.  They did quite well!  I did the icing as even I get pretty messy with that & couldn't imagine letting a 4 & 2 year old go to town with it -- they helped with the sugar cookies later anyway since the tube icing is easier for them to handle.

We had fun... lots of tasting, cutting, & laughter!  And just like that we can officially say it is Christmastime here!

½ cup shortening

½ cup packed light brown sugar

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¾ cup molasses

¼ cup water

I mix it, refrigerate it for about an hour, cut, then 

bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Let cool before icing.  

 D is quite the chef in the kitchen!

Most of K's cutting was her eating the dough that she pulled from around the men we cut out.

A cooling rack of yumminess!

The crazies were ready to dig in after they were up from naps!

Peppermint Bark

We have been doing a J is for Jesus week here with the crazies & using lots of candy canes for the "J". Little did I know how MUCH my crazies love candy canes... every time we would use one they would eat one, or two, or three.  I had no idea they liked them so much.  So, it seemed fitting that I make one of my favorite holiday treats with them -- Peppermint Bark.  It is easy peasy & only requires 3 ingredients.  The hardest part is getting the plastic off of the candy cane.  Seriously.  So, the crazies followed me to the kitchen & I put them to work.

Here are your 3 ingredients: 12 candy canes, a bag of white chocolate morsels, & 1 tsp. peppermint oil.

Unwrap the candy canes & place them in a ziploc bag -- K was my unwrapper & D placed them in the bag.

Use a heavy spoon to crush the candy canes into tiny pieces... this was their favorite part!

While crushing, let the microwave work for you to melt the morsels.  Melt in 30 second intervals.  I can melt the bag in 3-30 second intervals stirring in between.

Take the crushed candy canes & pour into the melted chocolate.  Add the 1 tsp. peppermint oil & stir.

 Spread the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper covering about a 9x13 area.  If you like yours thicker, spread it thicker.  I prefer mine thin.

Let it sit & harden.  Usually about an hour.  Break into pieces & enjoy.  An easy holiday treat... & the crazies loved it just like I thought they would!

Our Polar Express Night

We have BIG plans in the next couple of weeks & we are getting soooo excited!!  Meme is coming to visit & the crazies cannot wait AND while she is here we are headed to the Polar Express in Williams, AZ.  It runs from Williams to the Grand Canyon & is centered around the theme from the movie.  

http://www.thetrain.com/polar-express-5679.html

With this fast approaching, we decided to have an early showing of the movie here last night to get the crazies all geared up.  We got dressed in our Christmas pajamas, made homemade hot chocolate, & watched the movie.  I even got in the spirit after making the hot chocolate & pulled out my Christmas decor -- our season has started!!

 It made for a fun night & to say they loved the movie is an understatement!  Deacon tried to talk like the kid that talked alot & Kennedy really thinks the Williams train will go as fast as the one in the movie, hills & all.  I can't wait to watch their expressions when we go on the trip especially after watching their faces during the movie -- it will be priceless!!

The Featured Movie

Chocolate Yumminess!!

Getting their chocolate fix

Let the decorating begin!!

K fell in love with this Dancing & Singing Tree... I think I'll hear it all season

H is for Halloween & Harvest!!

Since this was the week of Halloween there was no skirtin' around a "H is for Halloween" learning week.  And because Halloween fell on a Wednesday, we used a "H is for Harvest" theme for the later part of the week.  The crazies did everything from making witch hats to learning about pumpkin life cycles.  Deacon was introduced to connect the dots & picked it up super quickly. Oopsey Daisy blog http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/mommy-school has a great H is for Halloween packet with movement cards, puzzles, & printables -- I used alot of that with Kennedy & it's colorful & she loved it!  Deacon also learned how to draw a heart & I caught him writing his first "sentence"... it was too sweet to not post.  The crazies also played Hungry Hippos for the first time -- since it starts with "H" I thought it would be a fun game to introduce & they have played it daily since.  There was alot of fun in the house with the Halloween & Harvest theme & they learned more than they knew they did!

K using her fine motor skills to match candy corn to numbers

some of the movement cards from the blog referenced

K enjoyed putting these simple puzzles together 

D connecting the dots                                 D matching cards

 Cutting & pasteing the pumpkin life cycle

Edible witch hat assembly

Yummo!!  And Easy Peasy!!

D first "sentence"

Making those pumpkin seeds useful... another pumpkin craft

 An intense game of Hungry Hippos

 A fun handprint spider... then we practiced counting with it

Ghost Truffles

This week is an "off" week for me & the crazies.  Soldier man has a 4-day which means it is a 3 day week for me & the kids, but with Tuesday morning Bible Study to attend, we are left just 2 days to ourselves.  So, for our learning we usually review what we have done & take the "off" time to do more seasonal crafts & cooking.  

We got into the kitchen today & made some Ghost Truffles & had a blast!  Oreo truffles are a favorite of mine, but to add a Halloween flare, we dipped them in white chocolate, added some ghost faces, & wha-lah -- we had a dish full of ghosts!  And they were as delish to eat as they were fun to make!

D stirring the melting chocolate with K supervising

A dish of yumminess

We used a wooden skewer to poke & dip -- super easy for the kids to help with

D letting the excess chocolate drip

K getting in on the dipping action 

Abunch of truffles post-drying phase 

How cute is he!?!

Abunch of ghostly truffles