Crazy Family Holidays.... LOVE them

Happy Easter Everyone !

We are kind of a dysfunctional non traditional family.

We had our Easter get together yesterday ( Saturday ).

No traditional ham or egg bake brunch for us.

Nope.

We had a fish fry.

Ya know, years ago , that may have driven me crazy.

Back in the day when I thought family holidays were supposed to be more Ozzie and Harriet than the Osbornes.

When I tried to plan a beautiful table scape.

You know , all Martha Stewart like.

But the centerpiece always got in the way.

And real dishes have to be washed, not just thrown away.

And after several glasses of wine ,

NO ONE in my family wants to do dishes !

I woke up a bit matured since then.

It took me years of disappointment to realize it's not how the gathering looks that is important,

it's who you spend it with.

We were only missing a few family members yesterday,

which is pretty good considering the "kids" are now adults with lots of other "perfect" family gatherings to attend.

This was the first year in a long time we had a "kids" table !

I had a lot of fun with that.

Although it was almost a bomb too.

We have a 2 1/2 year old , a 1 1/2 year old and a ( forgive me Jasmyn , I don't remember ) 7 or 8 year old.

All girls.

The little ones were sitting on their Mom's laps eating.

I thought , well , that table I scrambled to make was a total waste of time....

but then the next thing I knew ,

they had all discovered it and were sitting there happily eating at their own little table :)

( Of course , no picture ... wine remember ... )

Trust me , it was C*U*T*E !

PLUS ... I have to find more chairs for my kids table !

Two , that's right TWO of my nieces announced they are expecting in the fall.

Our family is expanding rapidly !

We may not be the Waltons ( or even close )

And I'm pretty sure Martha would have a heart attack looking at my table and buffet.

But my crazy family puts the FUN in DYSFUNCTIONAL !

And I wouldn't have it any other way !

Yep, that's the Crazies...

Beautiful table huh?

I didn't even try to disguise it with a table cloth....

More highlights~

Huntin for eggs...

OK Ryan didn't hid them well....

but we have LITTLE hunters.

And it rained..

Addie wasn't sure about picking up wet eggs.

But she caught on.

Quick !

"My" had to hold the basket.

Addie was too busy huntin`.

Jackpot !

Well, kinda...

 I think she was disappointed there was no chocolate.

I put quarters in the eggs.

When Addie was opening her eggs she said , " money....AGAIN."...sigh..

That kid cracks me up !

I hope all of you had a blessed Easter !

I know I sure did!

The Cupcake Queen's Christmas Cupcakes

I just love when people come up to me and tell me they read my blog!

Sometimes it really surprises me.

Yesterday my nephew said he has looked at it !

Made my day :)

Which brings me to a small request.

See that little blue button on the right side?

Right there - look...

It says , " Join this Site".

I would SO love if you would click on it !

It just lets me know that people actually like my blog.

It's a warm , fuzzy kind of thing :)

Thanks!

Now on to todays post.

I have said before,

I am The Cupcake Queen !

Well, not really, but in my family I am !

I made two varieties for Christmas this year and thought I would share them with you.

First one , Turtle Cupcakes.

Simple , simple, simple.

Take whatever chocolate cake mix is your favorite.

I use German Chocolate.

Mix as per directions.

Unwrap a Carmel on smoosh it in the center.

Bake as directed.

Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

At this point I would top with chopped pecans for a "real" Turtle taste,

but my kids have a thing against nuts,

so I used toffee bits, they love those.

Yum-O

( You know I LOVE Rachel Ray )

Second Variety

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

1 pkg. White Cake Mix

1 (14 oz. can) cream of coconut

(I actually found this in the liquor department in the grocery store.)

1 (14 0z. can ) sweetened condensed milk

I handful ( approx. 1 cup, I have small hands) flaked coconut

Mix cake according to directions

Add coconut

Bake cupcakes according to directions.

In a bowl, combine Cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk.

While cupcakes are still warm, poke holes in them with a straw.

Pour the cream/milk combo over them.

WARNING - this will be MESSY

Let them cool.

Top with your favorite frosting ( I used Buttercream)

Garnish with more flaked coconut.

Terrible picture !

Geez...

They really are quite beautiful!

A little better , not much .

I got a new laptop for Christmas,

My husband is the BEST !

Maybe I need to ask Santa for a new camera too.

And maybe some lessons.....

These really are delish,

IF you like coconut.

Not everyone does,

apparently none of my children do.

I do :)

OK here is some advise.

These are really messy. The milk/cream mixture that makes them so delish goes everywhere.

The original recipe ( which i modified , I ALWAYS modify) is actually meant to be a cake.

I like to make cupcakes.

It would probably work better as a cake.

Less messy anyway.

I just wrapped them in an extra cupcake liner for less sticky handling.

If you like coconut, please try these.

As cupcakes or a cake, doesn't matter.

This is truly a delish, moist cake.

Let me know if you are brave enough to make it cupcakes!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as I did.

I am truly blessed!

Me and my Beautiful Girls !

Christmas Cheers ! From My Family to Yours !

( Niece Spencer, Baby Girl Emily, Sis and Me )

Sharing this Post at:

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2011/12/eve-of-christmas-newbie-party-on.html

http://www.askannamoseley.com/2011/12/weekend-warrior-link-party-35.html

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http://www.vwbblog.com/2011/12/talent-tuesday-its-party-you-should_26.html

My Favorite Things ...Parts IIII & IV

One of my favorite Christmas songs is "My Favorite Things"

Who can forget Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music?

Classic

Although my favorite rendition has always been country singer Lorrie Morgan's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXiTIsB_ADQ

As we are winding down to the last few days before Christmas , I am reflecting on some of my favorite things.

So I decided I would do posts this week on things that bring a smile to my face .

I hope they make you smile too.

Favorite Thing Part IIII & IV

This post has a long title.

Favorite Things Part IIII & IV AND

Wordless ( ALMOST ) Wednesday ( A DAY LATE )

Almost Wordless , cause it is impossible for me not to talk ( even writing)

And a day late , cause I was just pooped last night !

And here is why .

Favorite Thing IN *THE*WORLD ~ My Girls

(well, three of them at least )

Favorite Thing IV

Christmas Cookies

LOVE*THEM

Don't make them , they are too much work.

Thanks God I have a daughter-in-law that does make them !

But she's kinda fussy.

So I stayed out of the way.

Addie loved helping though.

She said , " I big helper! "

And she was !

She was COVERED with flour and sugar by the time we were done.

The flour on her face wasn't her fault , it was her Mom's.

I couldn't get her to look at me for anything ! :(

We didn't just make cookies.

When I say "we" , I use the term loosely.

I was there , but I stayed out of their way.

I got the cookies too golden brown for Sarah.

And I didn't move fast enough for Emily.

Emily has a thing for Almond Bark Pretzels.

YUCK

Sarah also wouldn't let us frost the cookies last night.

She said we had to wait till today.

WHAT!

So no pictures of the finished masterpieces.

But I'm sure they will be PERFECT !

But my most favoritist thing in the whole wide world is spending time with my girls !

Merry Christmas Everyone!

via cravecute.blogspot.com

Carmel Apple Cupcakes and Girl Time with the Family

It was Bridal Shower weekend in the Trailerhood.

 My oldest nephew is getting married in a couple weeks and I love to have a party , so bridal shower it was.

 Last night we met up with the girls for part of the bachelorette party, just the supper part , cause this girl is getting a little too old for the other part !

 We had Addie with us too.

She needed shoes for the wedding.

 She is the flower girl .

 Can't wait to see how that goes... She is only 2 after all.

Me and Sis ( mother of the groom )

Jenna ( bride-to-be )

Spencer and Emily.

Cousins but more like sisters.

Spencer is going to kill me.

She didn't want her picture taken as they had been paintballing all afternoon and she had paint in her hair ! She is beautiful anyway !

Miss Addie saying " cheese".

Ok , done family sharing. Now onto the subject of this post.

Carmel Apple Cupcakes.

I saw these in a post from Inspired by Charm and thought they would be the perfect dessert for the shower.

Michael didn't include the recipe so I went to my go-to recipe site allrecipes.com . It's a great site , if you haven't used it , you should give it a try.

I found a recipe and it sounded very simple. The biggest job was unwrapping 35 carmels. In his post, Michael said he bought carmel bits instead of unwrapping all the carmel. Well, in my rural corner of the world , I couldn't find them. Sooo, I unwrapped 35 carmels.

Instead of melting them on the stove top , I used the microwave. Stirring every 30 seconds.

I always read the reviews of the recipes before I make them. Sometimes people post comments of what they would do differently or what they did or didn't like about the recipe. This one had a few comments about the carmel topping being to thick and gooey. I had the opposite problem. My carmel was really runny and made a mess ! But it was SO delish!

I put nuts on some and left some plain.

 Sometimes you feel like a nut , sometimes you don't.

Really , I know Sarah doesn't like nuts... but I do .....

All in all , a very good recipe. I would give it 4 stars.

 I would give it 5 but they were so messy !

OK , forgive me ... one more family picture.... well maybe two...

My beautiful girls.....I love them so.....

Say "cheese" !

Linking this post to these wonderful blogs:

Funky Junk Interiors

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ ( or click on the button on the sidebar)

Under the Table and Dreaming

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2011/10/sunday-showcase-party-with-freschetta.html

( click the button on the sidebar)

Between Naps on the Porch

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ ( or click on the button on the sidebar )

A Bowl Full of Lemons

http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-project-at-time-tuesday-link-party_18.html ( or click button on the sidebar )

Vintage Wannabee

http://micheleravendesigns.blogspot.com/ ( or click button on the sidebar)

Dittle Dattle

http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/2011/10/amaze-me-monday-46.html ( or click button on the sidebar)

You're Talking too Much

http://youaretalkingtoomuch.blogspot.com/2011/10/meet-me-monday-linky-party-8.html

Primp

http://micheleravendesigns.blogspot.com/

A Creative Princess

http://acreativeprincess.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-party-25.html#comment-form

Naptime Creations

http://nap-timecreations.blogspot.com/

October ? ..... Already?

What a busy weekend ! It was SO full of fun, family stuff , the very best kind of busy !
We only have a few weekends left at the trailer and we are trying to squeeze a lot of family time into these next few weekends. This weekend was the Turkey River Run , no, I do not run , but my niece Spencer and her husband Johnny and my nephew Ian have ran it for the last two years. It's a cross country , 5 mile run . And by cross country , I mean through fields , down ravines and through the river ( 5 times). They have fun running it and I have fun watching for them at the finish line ! Poor Spencer was so disappointed , she was second in her age division ( she got beat by 1 min. ). But there is always next year !

Spencer and Johnny. LOVE them !

That afternoon , we all went to the apple orchard in PrarieDuChein. We love that orchard and usually make a few trips there each fall. This one was the best ever. My son, Dan and daughter-in-law, Sarah came along with my grand daughter ( you have all been introduced to Addie already). My youngest daughter  Emily and her guy Ryan came along too.  Add in Spencer and Johnny and friends Will and Heather and we had quite a crew! We ate at one of our favorite places along the river.  It looks like a dive on the outside , but the food is outstanding and the service is excellent.

Auntie Em ( or My , as Addie calls her ) entertaining Addie and trying to get her to smile for Grandma .

Then on to the orchard , of which I have NO pictures ! This forgetful Grandma left her camera in the car. We do have plenty of pictures though because Addie's Mommy ALWAYS has her camera, I just have to wait for her to get me some. We had a great time. Addie LOVED the petting zoo . She called the llama a giraffe but ...close enough !  We picked apples. We ate apples.  We picked raspberries. We looked at the pumpkins, but Addie and I had already gotten enough for me ( see previous post ).

 When we got back to the trailer , Addie picked out a mini pumpkin to take home. My BFF and neighbor Shari was very generous and left a pile of them on my patio table.

Not sure what the two of them are laughing about .....

STILL won't look at the camera!

Today on our way home we stopped to look at hubby's new project. He bought a house to flip and really has his work cut out for him. The house belonged to a hoarder ( I am so NOT joking ) and it is FULL of stuff ! He has brought me some pretty good junk , but he has had to clean  out an awful lot of trash too. When he first looked at the house, I couldn't even go in , the smell was that bad ! Emily was braver than me , she looked at it with him, but he has come a long way in just a couple weeks ! He is much braver than I !

Here is some of the treasures he brought me put to use .

What to do with a 1970"s wrought iron candle sconce , why add mini pumpkins , of course!

Not just one, but two !

I also brought home some awesome fabric ( old drapes ) that I can NOT wait to use. However a good cleaning is need first. The kids all found something to take home too, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. He hasn't even gotten to the second floor!

Stayed tuned for more " flip house junk" redo's !