pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

my aunt terry is a great cook.  her specialty is sweet treats- she's nicknamed herself "aunt cookie" which my kids lovingly call her.  come to think of it- they wouldn't know her as anything else.  a few years ago she trusted me with her pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe.  it's so yummy- i can eat it by the loaf.  i have adjusted it just a little- cause in my house we love muffins.

so instead of clove and allspice- i just use about a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. 

and i bake our muffins for 17 minutes

 gather up your supplies and favorite helpers:

 i ALWAYS let the kids measure and pour

 i said...."hey boys, what do you think is in this bag?"

boys say," CHOCOLATE!!"

 "how do you like that?"

 "will, what does chocolate make your face do?"

 i follow the recipe then stir the chips in at the end....

 always use an ice cream scoop for even muffins...

 your kitchen may look like this:

 your daughter may look like this:  (yes, i let her eat 5 chocolate chips......i have NO idea how she is so messy!)  i know my aunt would be glad she looks like this.  of course, she'd let her eat the whole bag!! 

 all that is worth it...because in the end you'll have these!

thank you aunt terry for this recipe.  it's one of my favorites.  i always think of you when i make them too.  xo-

total side note- for those of you with little ones- eating baby food.  you can mix the leftover pumpkin with a banana.....it makes for a yummy baby food.  ok, i've never really tried it- but anna michael loved it last fall.  happy fall!

why wait to say thanks?

teacher appreciation day comes way too late in the school year if you ask me :)  i'm thinking, if you have a super teacher- thank them every chance you get.  we are so blessed this year with a wonderful kindergarten teacher for jack.  he loves going to school and i credit that to her. 

he's had a tough time with fire drills.   they scare him.  i think he believes there may be a real fire lurking around or possibly it's the LOUD annoying bell that gets him- either way he hates them.  his super sweet teacher has calmed his fears.  last two fire drills she has calmly held his hand led all of her students to "safety" and most importantly calmed his heart.  that to me deserves a thank you!

your thank you can simply be a note!  today we're bringing in a bouquet of pencils with a Starbucks gift card.
 nothing says thanks like a pumpkin spiced latte right?

 i mean really- can you blame her for holding this silly little hand?  :)

dinosaurs

a friend from preschool wanted a dinosaur party for her soon to be 4 year old's birthday party.  she choose the colors and i have to say- it's my favorite combination for these little guys!  i love when people help my things to look better!!  thanks so much kelli!

happy birthday marshall!  i had lots of fun working on your party!!

yard sale find

i've never been a girl who likes going to yard sales.  but....once i started my love for spray paint i realized that i needed to paint things that i could afford to throw away of things went south :)  not all of my craft projects turn out so hot ya know.   solution- buy it from a yard sale of course!  this spring my sister in law and i went out one saturday morning in search of treasures.  this is what i got:

yes, that's right a bed frame.  i actually like it as is- but i had big plans for this thing.  before i get ahead of myself....guess how much i paid for this?  TEN DOLLARS!!!  can you believe it?  they were asking 15- i'm such a bargain hunter :)

so it's about that time to start thinking of putting miss annie in her big girl bed.  it's bittersweet really.  the only reason the boys got into big beds was because they were becoming big brothers.  that is not the case with baby girl.  part of me would love a crib around for longer. 

here is what i've decided for this old white bed:

 watermelon pink.  i'm in love.

a few coats on the headboard and foot board  and......

and there it is!  i'm sewing some pillows this week......this room is a work in progress and i am having a ball!  i love pink- and so does my girl.

our family grew

  i  want to introduce you to some very special girls in our family.  meet my sister's new daughters here. 

this kid

seriously.  this kid is too much.  it's like school can't go by quickly enough some days.  now i love saturdays more than ever.

jack says, "watch mom, this is going to be funny."  he was right.

at this point.....he could barely breath.  oh how i wish you could have heard him. :)

boy do i love him.

pirate party!

i seriously can't believe this kid is 6!!  we had the best time at his pirate party.  i tried to talk him into a different theme- since he had a pirate party when he turned 2.....clearly he didn't remember that one. one of jack's favorite shows is disney's jake and the neverland pirates.  we decided on a few shades of blue and red for his party colors.  typically i would think black, red and gold.....but that's what i did the first time- and i wanted this one to be different.  here is a look at his party. 

 

this was the beginning of the food table. the blow up treasure chest was full of water and juice boxes.  notice the bunting above the table?  jack and i sewed that- in addition to several others around the party.  he likes to push the pedal.

you know you've got a friend when she shows up with a carved watermelon pirate ship for your kid's birthday party. thanks n.

i ordered the invitations from a great etsy shop, pixles4parties.  she was FANTASTIC!!  she has adorable invitations- jack's was 4.99 AND it came with lots of free printables- like the one here.  she was also willing to change the colors for no extra charge! i usually make my own invitations, but i don't have any jake and the neverland pirates images.  these were super cute, and less expensive to buy then make!

here is one of the centerpieces we used.

cubby is a character from disney's jake and the neverland pirates.

the kids used the glue as paint, and decorated the cardboard cut outs with colored sand.  there were also pirate coloring sheets and stickers to decorate as well.

during craft time i was SO glad we were outside!  (can you imagine this mess inside?)

lots of swimming went on during the party:

we played pin the patch on the pirate- a game i grabbed in target.

then, the highlight of the pirate party......our TREASURE HUNT!!!

i made sashes for all of the kids like Jake.  each one of my little pirates also put a patch on- it was adorable!  notice jack in the front...he got a sword since it was his birthday.  he was leading his crew! 

we had check points on the way where the kids found little treasures.

at the last check point each pirate got a shovel......

and after some hard work.....they found the buried treasure!!! 

and what does a pirate crew need after all of that hard work?  cake of course!

look at my favorite two tiny scallywags:

the girl wore her eye patch like a bow all day!

and when the party came to an end, jack passed out the favor buckets to his guests and thanked them for coming.

so there it is, jack is six.  he has always been my favorite treasure.