summer treats

today i wanted to make a special treat for the kiddies.  i remember my favorite ice cream shop sold frozen bananas dipped in chocolate when i was a kid.  i never ate them my friend jennifer p. always did :)  i've always been more of a vanilla and chocolate twist with chocolate sprinkles kind of girl.

here's how you make chocolate covered frozen bananas:

here's what you need.  i rolled mine in granola and sprinkles- another great choice would be chopped nuts or toasted coconut.

cut the bananas in half and put them on a stick.  kids love food on sticks!

i just used the easy microwavable chocolate.  cover the banana in chocolate.

roll the banana in whatever topping you'd like

once the bananas are covered put them in the freezer for an hour or so to firm up.

serve to your happy little kids :)

will and jack said they tasted like banana ice cream!

father's day cards

so i thought i should follow up on how the cards turned out from our giant painting.  here's how i did it:

i cut rectangles to attach to my blank cards

we used glue dots to attach the paintings.  double sided tape would be easy- but we didn't have any.

i had the kids sign their names

here they are!  pretty cute, and the boys were really proud of them :)

hope everyone had a great father's day!

painting for father's day

my kids are so lucky.  they happen to have the best daddy in the entire world.  they also have lots of wonderful uncles, grandfathers and great grandfathers. so in order to make special "art" for each of  them we painted a huge picture to share.  my plan is to cut this one picture into several cards.  (i know, it's a little lazy on my part......but it was pretty fun for them.)

we rolled out craft paper on the driveway.  freezer paper would work well too.  you could use this as wrapping paper- which would look really homemade and super sweet.  i just poured the paint directly on the paper and let them go.  of course after about ten minutes my kids decided to paint their hands and feet :)

as they worked on their painting we made a list of the people we should share this with on father's day.  here is our list :)


jordan,  happy father's day.  you are so good to us.  i am so lucky that you're mine.

and happy father's day to my dad (who probably won't read this anytime soon :) i love you, and i'm grateful you're mine too.  -steph

i love vacation

this past week looked a lot like this for my family:

oh how i love the beach :) 

a friend in need...

tonya and i went to college together.  she lived down the hall my freshman year.  i was randomly put on a sorority hall- which would have been great, except everyone was older and they weren't allowed to talk to me during the first weeks of school.  it was really lonley.  tonya had the brightest smile.  she was one of the first girls to reach out to me that year, even when she wasn't supposed to.  she'd make sure i knew where my classes were and that i was adjusting well.  she was kind and generous.  i was so grateful. i still am.

if you were thinking you wanted to help someone today......let tonya be your girl.  she has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor. i know she'd appreciate your prayers, as she could really use them.  if you think you could make a donation to her family, i know that would help her as well.  thank you for spreading sunshine in all the ways you can.

  http://www.gofundme.com/TonyaTransformed

this is tonya with her husband, kevin and her two adorable boys

salsa

sarah so kindly posted her salsa recipe here.  i have been making it at least once a week since then.  it's sorta like an addiction at this point.....maybe i should seek help :)  i have adapted it it just a bit for my family.  here's how i make this salsa:

can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos, chunk of onion, two garlic cloves, cilantro, lime juice, salt & pepper

i smash the garlic

couple pinches of each...

juice this little guy....

handful of cilantro on top....

put the magic bullet to work......and

 there it is!  so yummy, so easy.

now i must warn you- it's addictive.  you'll want lots of chips and a maybe a corona too :)