Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake

I found this recipe on pinterest & just had to try it! SO yummy!!! So, of course I had to share it with you!
So, here we go:

2 1/4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350*, coat a 9"x13" pan with baking spray & set aside

Cream together your softened butter & peanut butter,

 add brown sugar, flour & vanilla.

Make sure you sift your flour! That way you won't get any chunks of flour in your cake. 

 When well combined take out 1 cup or the mixture, set aside.

Add baking powder, baking soda, milk & another tsp of vanilla.

 Mix well & then add eggs 1 at a time mixing well after each addition.

Pour batter into your prepared 9"x13" pan. Sprinkle top with reserved flour mixture & chocolate chips. Bake for 40 minutes.

 YUM!! 

I found the original recipe here

Pinterest Thursday ~ Menu Board

 I'm sure most of you already know, pinterest is pretty addicting! =) I have found SO many ideas, recipes, crafts, things to do it's ridiculous! I haven't done most of them. SO I have decided it's time to putting all of my time on pinterest to use. Every Thursday I will do a post about something I found on there & actually did. This week I will start with this menu board I made. I had a lot of fun making this with Ella, we even decided to do one for chores. We even use it! I wasn't sure if I would use it or if I would make it, hang it on the wall, use it for a week or two & then forget about. I really like having it, it helps a lot with menu planning & grocery shopping. =) 

Here are all of my supplies, paper, a frame, clothespins, 2 boxes of crayons, stickers, & buttons

     I think I may have gone a little overboard with the paper =)

I took the frame apart, then glued the paper onto

the back of the frame & put it back together without the glass.

To make the clips for the recipes, I used clothespins. I cut out peices of paper that were the same size & hot glued it onto the top of the clothespin. Then I glued the clothes pin onto my frame. 

The crayon boxes are to put the recipes in that 

aren't in the clips. I folded the paper around the box like I was wrapping it, Ella covered the paper in glue then we put it on the bow. I used hot glue around the top to make sure it stays. I also put paper in the box so you can't see the cardboard. I hot glued them to my board, I put them on crooked so it would be easier to get the papers in & out... & I think it looks cute! 

I then added some embellishments to make it cute as well as functional. I wrapped some string around the boxes & added some buttons. Then I added the fabric that went between the 2 different pieces of paper & the glitter letters (cuz who doesn't need a little sparkle?) 

and here is my awesome menu board! 

Then because I had so much paper I decided to make a chore chart too. =) Ella loves helping me do things on here & then moving the paper into the done envelope. 

Congrats Shawn!!

My little brother, Shawn graduated this year. It just doesn't seem possible that he is old enough to have graduated high school, let alone the fact the he is now an adult & will be doing adult things. Moving out, getting a real, full-time job, going to college... In my head he has been stuck at age 12 for quite some time. I am proud of him & what he has become. I like to think since I am quite a few years older than him I contributed to that. =) Here are a few photos from his graduation & some senior photos too (which I took).

CONGRATULATIONS SHAWN!!!

Where have I been??

Hi all! So, I know I have been absent for quite awhile... I have just been so busy with the kiddos, Colten just turned 1, my little brother graduated from high school, and I was super busy in June with my photography {YAY} I will try & get some posts done this week. In the mean time... here is a photo of Colten eating his cake. =)

Giveaway

Entered in a giveaway!! I really hope I win! There are some AWESOME vendors in this giveaway!
I never win anything & it would be SO exciting if I won this! I REALLY could use more props. (just don't ask Dave) ;-)

Go HERE to check out the giveaway!

There are more important things

So much on my to do list today, I was making quite a dent in it already this morning. Made pancakes for breakfast, including an extra dairy free batch to freeze for Colten, cleaned up that mess, did the breakfast dishes & the ones I left from supper last night, vacuumed the livingroom & bedrooms & in order to do so I had to clean them, have some laundry going... then Ella asked me to sit with her & watch Pocahontas... Oh, well I would rather sit with her anyway, there's always tomorrow to finish that list...

At least that's how I see it. My house is not dirty but it is also not perfectly clean. I just don't understand how to keep it that way with 2 kids, 2 dogs, a cat (that will soon multiply), & me & my hubby. There is just no way! I get the livingroom spotless & move onto the kitchen & get that room done. And apparently we had a natural disaster right in our livingroom cuz it looks like a tornado went through it. So I clean that up only to have Ella open the door to let 2 muddy dogs run through the house. There goes that clean kitchen. It goes on & on all day so I see no reason to try & get ahead, only to try & keep up. I think it is more important to be with my kids making a mess than just cleaning up after them. They only have 1 childhood, I would rather they have a happy one, one where they remember how much fun they had with Mom than one where I was in the background picking up after them. Now, I do teach them how to pick up their toys when they are done, a few times a day we have clean-up time. Ella sings her favorite clean-up song thanks to Dora. :-) But, I don't mind when there are baby dolls, cars and trucks & blocks all over my livingroom.

So, if you come over unannounced there will probably be dirty dishes in the sink, toys all over, dogs prints on the floor, & happy kids.

So....

I found this sign here

Poopy diapers, dirty dishes, fighting kids, laundry ...

I LOVE staying home with my kids!

It is so great to be there for every moment, whether big~ I have seen both of them roll over for the first time, sit up unassisted,

 say their first word, take their first steps... ect...ect...ect... or small~ play with toys, take naps, not take naps, play with each other, give their dogs a hug... ect...ect...ect...I would not trade it for the world. 

I have had many other jobs & staying home with the kids is by far the hardest thing I've done. Not because it's particularly difficult to clean up the house, do dishes, do laundry, make dinner, change diapers, pick-up toys, stop fights, change diapers, pick up toys, stop fights, do laundry, change

diapers, pick-up toys, clean up the house, do dishes, change diapers, pick-up toys, do laundry, do dishes, pick-up toys... Ha-Ha! As you can tell I do the same things every day, over & over & over &.... 

That in itself is a challenge, then the fact that I get slightly resentful that my hubby gets to leave every day. I know he's going to work & he's working so very hard so to take care of our family. It's just that he gets to leave this bubble of poopy diapers, dirty dishes, fighting kids, laundry, oh and NO ADULTS. I sometimes go for days when the only adult I get to talk to is my husband. The reward of course is worth every minute, when Ella gives me a hug & tells me she loves me, when Colten walks (yup, he walks now!) up to me, climbs on my lap & hugs me, when everytime Colten takes a nap Ella asks where he is, sounding slightly worried about her little brother. Then when he wakes up she runs into his room saying "morning brother, I missed you!!" When they play together nicely in Ella's room... & that's the stuff that just happened today. Every crazy, dirty diaper, dishes in the sink, sticky kitchen floor, laundry filled basket day is worth it! Oh SO worth it! However, I need a break from them & they need a break from me.

So, we decided to hire a nanny once a week. She came over last week to meet the kids & so I could watch her interact with them. She was WONDERFUL!! Ella loved playing with her & Colten went to her, he was even a little upset when she left. Which is a MAJOR thing since he has a bit of stranger anxiety (will only go to me, Dave &  both Grandmas) 

Tomorrow is her first day, I am so excited, kinda Christmas morning excited (well, I won't go quite that far cuz you all know I LOVE Christmas!!

{I'm excited for that already & it's still 244 days 4  hours & 48 minutes away, but who's counting?})anyway... I am pretty excited.

I have 5 HOURS to do WHATEVER it is I want!! This is going to be great for my relationship with my kids & my husband...maybe I won't be so irritated that he gets to leave the bubble everyday. :-) So... tomorrow when she gets here at 11 I am going to go get in my car & go... well, anywhere I want! 

Chalkboard fridge

This is a project I did last year but, I have had a few people ask how I did it. So... here it is:

I painted my fridge with chalkboard paint! It was kinda scary at first, I mean I PAINTED MY FRIDGE!! Everyone thought I was crazy, now I like to believe they are jealous of my super fun fridge. Dave thought I was crazy too, but he's used to that by now. ;-)
 
First I cleaned the fridge really well. Then I had to primer it. I did that & let is dry over night. I bought a primer for metal, we were told by the guy who worked where we bought it we needed the magnetic primer, there is no need. The fridge is already magnetic & that primer makes surfaces become magnetic.


Then I painted the doors with chalkboard paint. I t comes in 12 different colors, I decided to do mine in a chocolate brown. That sat for 8 hours then I painted it with a second coat. After that it had to sit for 3 days before we could draw on it. That was the longest 3 days ever!  I also had to change the handles. The original white ones just weren't going to work & I saw somewhere (forgive me, this was about 6 months ago, I don't remember where.) they used towel bars as handles. So...that's what we did. I think it looks AWESOME!!

Then FINALLY we could draw on it, first you have to condition it. You just turn a piece of chalk on it's side & then rub it all over, then wipe with a dry cloth. Talk about messy! And then FINALLY we could draw on it!

I love my fridge now!! Ella loves to draw on it & I write letters, numbers & shapes on it to teach her. I also write quotes, lists, pictures, whatever I want. It's a lot of fun!!

So, about 6 months later... it still looks fabulous! No chips or scratches & it gets written or drawn on almost daily!