Lego Birthday Party

My sons are obsessed with Legos, so much that it drives me crazy at times – well, mainly the mess they leave on the floor of their bedroom. 

For my son’s recent seventh birthday, he wanted to have a Lego theme.  He created the idea for his birthday cake with a little help from Pinterest. 

I am humbling myself by posting the picture because the cake definitely turned out much less than professional!

I realized after I made the cake that I should have frosted the cake before I put the peanut butter cups on top.  It was a bear(!) trying to smooth out the frosting with the cups on top already.  Ugh!

The basic gist:  a rectangular dark chocolate cake with large Reese’s peanut butter cups for the Lego studs.  Coat everything with frosting of your choice, and of course, add your favorite Lego characters!  You could certainly be creative and do a cool color.  My son and I have a strong bond.  We are chocolate lovers, and sometimes that overrules other decisions. 

When I was at Target, preparing for my son’s birthday, I ran into these cute napkins, and Lego-ish candles.  They helped make our party a success!

Little Blessings

Wait.  Pinch me.  Am I really blogging? 

Life continues to remind hectic and hard.  I fight against it and try to simplify as much as possible, leaning on the Lord, looking for peace.  Hence, my blog is usually one of the last things I am able to pursue.

Where do I start? 

• My son’s birthday party
• The decorative craft I made for the grad party
• Our new breakfast craze

I know.  How about the some of the little blessings in life that are keeping me going?

A quiet, happy moment from my daughter
when she was miserably sick a couple weeks ago.

The new planner I found at Meijer yesterday, which has task list pages sandwiched in between each week’s calendar pages.  Perfect!  The thought had just crossed my mind that I needed something like this until I create a homemaking binder for myself or something.

  

Two pairs – yep, count ‘em… two pairs of Eddie Bauer jeans
for $20 total!  I was returning another pair that I
had ordered online for $35
(a great deal for EB jeans) and found these!

Three of my children lined up at the door with extreme goodness
and silence, trying to bless us on a busy Father’s Day
morning as we were heading to church.

Life may be busy.  It may be tough.

However, God’s blessings are always there with us.

What has blessed you lately?

Bacon Pancakes

Recently I saw an idea for bacon pancakes on Pinterest.  Unfortunately there were no instructions attached, so I went solo to create this breakfast delight. 

Bacon Pancakes

Fry your bacon at medium heat, flipping fairly frequently, on both sides until nearly cooked.

When bacon is cooking on the last side, pour pancake batter over top of bacon.

Flip once the pancake is puffy and has air bubbles rising to the top.

This photo shows the pancakes at each stage.

Cook until the bottom of the pancake is cooked, approximately another minute.

Serve, with simple homemade syrup if desired.

We ate these with our fingers.  ~smile~

Pancake Recipe and Simple Homemade Syrup

Recently I used my pancake recipe and whipped up a simple syrup to create an interesting breakfast delicacy.  Tomorrow I will share that special treat with you, but first here are the foundational recipes.

Basic Pancakes
Printable Version

2 cups flour of your choice 
2 cups milk (sometimes I add a tad more if the batter seems too thick)
2 eggs
1 T baking powder
4 T oil
1 t salt
You can add additional ingredients like mashed banana, blueberries, or chocolate chips as well.  I like to blend the banana with the batter but add other things after mixing.
You may like my “Packed Pancakes” recipe.

Mix all together in a bowl with a mixer or by hand. 

Pour batter onto griddle and cook on medium heat until the top of the pancake shows air bubbles.

Flip pancake and cook for another minute until the bottom is cooked thoroughly.

Butter pancakes as soon as they come off the griddle.

Serve!

Simple Pancake Syrup
Printable Version

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 t vanilla

MIx all ingredients in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until boiling.

Stir and serve.

The Graduation Party

Recently I told you how, months ago, I could hardly believe that I could pull off a successful graduation party for my niece.

Well, I did it! … We did it! … God did it!

With the great help of my wonderful husband, kids, our family, and friends, we were blessed with an enjoyable celebration.

My refrigerator was packed and ready to go the day before!

 

The Menu:

BBQ Meatballs
Fried Chicken (purchased)
Tortellini Alfredo
Italian Pasta Salad
Watermelon

Cake
Brownies
Peanut Butter Cookies

Sweet Tea
Lemonade
Water

 

 

 

The Setup

We rented two tents and 100 chairs from a rental company and borrowed ten tables from our church.  We also set up some activities in the yard:  badminton, bean bag toss, and a disc golf basket in the front yard.  Our basketball hoop was also up in the driveway. 

Memorabilia

I organized a table with some of my niece’s senior pictures for show and also as favors.  I also put out her diploma, a card box, and a journal guests could sign.  Inside our home, we displayed a slide show of pictures on our TV of my niece over the years.

Overall, everything was a success.  Our guests enjoyed themselves, and our niece did too.  I feel so completely, utterly thankful to God.  He is good and carries us through things that seem very big for us to handle.

If you are planning a big celebration, don’t fear!  You can do it!  Plan and prepare the best you can.  Ask for help, especially from the Lord, for He is faithful.

Feeling Out of Control?

Are you feeling out of control with your life?

Are the pressures, circumstances, and people around you causing you to feel uneasy and tense? 

Are you living with a whirlwind of emotions each day?

I can successfully say that I have been feeling out of control.

• Only two more days until I host the graduation party for my niece.  Everything seems to be in line, but the pressure of it all has still gotten to me.
• My husband has put the course in motion for us to go on a cruise to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary – gulp!  A cruise?  “Um, didn’t we just commemorate the Titanic’s sinking?”  That’s where my thoughts go…
• The decisions and choices of my teen put me in a tailspin often, as I try to keep my bearings.
• My toddler has become extremely needy lately and is clinging to me like peanut butter.

These are some of the circumstances in my life that have made me feel very out of control.  Let me just say that I have seriously considered investing stock in Kleenex.

When we feel out of control, there are some good helps.

1. Look to your God – the One Who is in control!  He is our help in time of need!
2. Lean on your husband.  My husband gave me a serious talk last night about how I need to trust in him and let him lead.  It. is. hard!  It is hard to let my preferences and emotions go and somehow be calm and trust his lead.  Nonetheless, God gave us our husbands as a stabilizing factor.
3. Control what you can control.  The Bible is clear that we are in charge of controlling ourselves.  It is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5.  We may not be able to control our circumstances or the people in our lives, but we can control ourselves.  If we can gain self-control of our thoughts and feelings, we will gain peace.
4. Keep seeking productivity and proactivity.  When we are feeling out of control, we must keep in motion.  We need vision for our lives.  Checking off the “to do” list and setting our minds and bodies on good things refreshes us.

If you feel out of control, breathe with me.  We can do this!

We can do all things through our God who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).