Everything is Better with Butter!

So... this week is Morgan's school Thanksgiving party and this means sign up and bring a dish time which for me means - how can I trick this out a little bit - no party food shall ever be boring!! 

Looking over the list I was not terribly inspired - yes, part 1 is inspiration and part 2 is what will Morgan actually eat? I can make some mean mashed potatoes but my child will not touch them (not sure why or how - she does not like potatoes, barely eats french fries - probably not a bad thing though!).  And then I saw rolls and butter. 

Rolls and butter may seem plain and boring but I assure you they are not. First, butter is moldable and shapable - I like these two qualities very much. Rolls can have these traits too - however, work week events don't often allow for too much homemade bread crafting.  In any event - on to the butter.

As with all my projects I have an idea in my head - FAB-U-LOUSSS... and then... I start to put the idea into action.  

First round: Candy mold (with cute turkey shapes) - yeah, no! Massive, I repeat massive failure. It had a shape reminiscent of a turkey - but it was similar to looking at a cloud and interpreting an image. I currently have turkey bits in a plastic bag saved for a time when I make cookies or some such thing.

Second Round: Butter mold #2 - leaves.... this still resides in my fridge - results to be determined tonight - but I am hopeful - I really jammed the butter in and this mold is a bit deeper.

Third Round: COOKIE CUTTERS!!!!! I used one tiny cutter and a bigger turkey. The tiny cutter worked SO well.... and the turkey cutter is to be determined - I had to mold the butter into it - again results tonight. 

I just can't help myself - when an idea strikes me I have to make it happen one way or another - often it just happens to be the another side of things! :-) 

What I can say is this - there is a high chance I am deficient in butter molding skills (if you have any tips I'd love them), but if you have ever contemplated butter shaping I would highly recommend tiny cookie cutters... 

Happy buttering! 

Box It Up

It's a conversation parents have had for decades - you've undoubtedly had it, or been privy to it.  It happens right after opening presents -  you look over and you see your child... not playing with all the new fantastic toys, instead they are immersed in play with a CARDBOARD BOX. And then the statement heard from home to home over the years - "I should have just given  them the box". 

In this case  there were no precursory presents - just a box. A box, a girl, and a garage sale. It was at last week's garage sale that this cardboard playland caught Morgan's eye. It was a semi-tattered box with sharpie marker on the side "all books 25 cents" - but to her it was fantastic. She claimed that box taken and immediately began playing in it and decorating it. 

Through the course of the week it collected more design elements (eventually being covered in art paper) and then drawn upon and supped up with stickers and magazine cut outs that serve as buttons, e.g. automatic ice cream button, etc.. (she even added a veggie button - shocked me for sure). Today that cardboard box is at school for share day - lined with a small thin fleece blanket - her "car" was ready to show the rest of her friends... 

Unfortunately I did not grab a picture this morning - but it is a great box. Perhaps with Christmas on the horizon I should run to office depot and stock up on the must-have for the season, however I think part of the magic is finding that special box that catches your eye!

I love that she found her special box and how creative and imaginative she is - I especially love the fact that out of all the things she could have shared today - she shared her very own magic cardboard box. 

Troop 583 and Me

Oh so long ago Troop Beverly Hills was one of my absolute favorite movies! And, now I find myself walking in the footsteps of Ms. Shelley Long, but in actual real life - why you ask? 

As of this week (November 11th in fact) I am officially a girl scout troop leader. Well... co-leader but you get the point. Now, I will remove the current thought in my head saying - is this an omen that your confirmation took place on Veteran's Day and just say - nah... only good things ahead. 

How did this happen??? - It goes like this. The mom of one of Morgan's classmates / favorite friends asked me if I would be interested in having Morgan participate in girl scouts to which I answered yes, I and she would be very interested - with an extended offer of my help if needed. It turns out  that a troop has to have two adults (at minimum) so I signed on to be a co-leader. An application, some reference forms, and a whole lotta reading material later here we are. 

With phase one complete, next is phase two and  three - training (have to go to girl scout school) and coordination of the troop..  It's some work on the front end, but well worth it and I think it's going to be great fun and I have a fantastic leader to work with. 

What does all this mean for you? Well, it means posts about Morgan's girl scouting, Daisy adventures we shall call them, and a COOKIE CONTACT. Come on, you know you love and want those cookies... :-) 

Ps - if you've never seen Troop Beverly Hills you should... even 20 years later it's still great fun.

The Ghost of Presents....

Because it was Veteran's day yesterday Morgan did not have class. Instead they got to go on a field trip to see "A Christmas Carol" at the movie theatre. She said she liked the movie and on the ride home was explaining different things about it, one of which was - The Ghost of Presents.

m: and mama, there was the ghost of presents!

me: the ghost of presents? 

m: yes

me: OH! do you mean the ghost of Christmas present... 

ha ha ha... another thing you have to laugh at. Just goes to show we have not talked about what we are presently doing in our home, or any other such use of the second meaning of the word... :-) 

Ice Skating & Garage Sales

Last week was a bit hectic indeed - while it was the first week without soccer practice we managed to keep quite busy... 

First - the big event was Princess on Ice.

We went Thursday evening (the very first showing) primarily because my friend was part of the Disney club and able to get cheaper tickets that night. So, of course any night you have an after-school event you have some major back to back running around. 

Overall, she loved the show and upon driving home fell fast asleep - so asleep that she had to question how she got into her pajamas the next morning. 

Then came... THE GARAGE SALE. 

I got a major internal pull to have a garage sale... It is such a nice concept in theory - sell some stuff / make some money. Well... November garage sales are maybe not the best month, and my parents house as a location may have set up unrealistic expectations of what we might have for sale - plus many of our potential shoppers were clearly not interested in semi-useful but clearly used stuff. 

I also think the small stuff is what sells (and now I know). The dollar items - especially Morgan's clothes were very popular but the real money makers (or as I saw them were barely given a glance). The end result - $70. Yep, two days of prep / sign making, etc... all for $70. 

Now, it's money I did not have and I am grateful AND we were able to clear out some house-filling clutter that needed to be gone. My co-sellers (my friend Brianne and parents) did not fair very well either - but again, we got rid of stuff and made a little money. 

I think that my parents actually did okay just based on the fact that a few things that had been gathering dust (like an old motorcycle that was strictly good for parts) made it out the door. 

Morgan seemed to have fun with it too - she liked going through her things for items to sell, and she enjoyed hanging out at the cashier table (although being a colder day she did have to retreat inside for part of it). 

By end of Sunday we were exhausted. Here's looking forward to a much less busy week (hopefully). 

Close Up and Personal...

Because the picture yesterday was a bit small... 

Sometimes you feel like smiling.

Sometimes, you don't!

Fall Season Complete...

The fall soccer season came to an end on Saturday.  Her photo below kind of sums up the season - sometimes good - sometimes well.... yeah... anyhow. :-) 

She was invited to play again as the whole team is going to sign up together so the kids can have the same team - we gave a TBD status. Six months is a long ways away so who knows how she'll feel...