Friday, March 29, 2013

Easter Treats!

Easter Candy Bark




Easter Egg Bark
Ingredients: Add all to shopping list
3 (1.55-ounce) bars Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, unwrapped
3 (1.55-ounce) bars Hershey’s Cookies & Cream Bars, unwrapped
1 handful mini chocolate malted eggs
1 Tbsp pastel-colored sprinkles
At a glance: Servings: Makes about 18 pieces
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 20 min
directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

2. Lay the candy bars (alternating flavors) side-by-side on the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or just until the chocolate bars are melted. Remove the pan from the oven.

3. Use the tip of a skewer or knife to swirl the chocolates together. Press the eggs into the melted chocolate- scattering them all over. Sprinkle sprinkles on top too. Place the baking pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes (or until set). Use a knife to break apart thebark. Keep the bark in a covered container in the refrigerator or freezer until ready for munching.


Cadbury Easter Creme Egg Cupcakes

Cadbury Easter Creme Eggs Cupcakes

Ingredients

12 chocolate cupcakes (I used ½ of a boxed recipe or gather the ingredients for your own favourite recipe)
24 mini Easter Creme Eggs

Marshmallow Frosting
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme (Fluff)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Nanaimo Frosting
¼ cup butter (room temperature)
3 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp vanilla custard powder (Harry Horne's or Birds)
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

Unwrap and freeze 12 of the Easter Creme Eggs. Unwrap the other 12 and set aside.
Cupcake – Mix ingredients for cupcakes and fill cupcake wrappers just under 2/3 full. Bake as per instructions, but at the halfway point, pull the cupcakes out of the oven and place a frozen egg on each one, pushing down gently. The egg doesn’t need to be covered at this point, as the cupcake will continue to rise and bake around it. Place cupcakes back in the oven until finished baking. Remove, cool in pan for 5 minutes and then place on a rack to cool. (Make sure they are completely cool before decorating)
Marshmallow Frosting – Whip butter with mixer until soft. Add marshmallow creme and vanilla. Whip for about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until all sugar is incorporated. Cover and set aside.
Nanaimo Frosting – Whip butter until soft. Meanwhile, mix custard powder with milk. Add to butter. Whip until blended. I find it never completely mixes together (or maybe I’m just impatient) but that’s okay. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Cover and set aside.
To Decorate – Using a piping bag fitted with a #809 tip(or other round tip), pipe marshmallow frosting on cooled cupcakes. Then using the same tip, pipe a smaller circle of Nanaimo frosting in the centre of the cupcake. Place an unwrapped Easter Creme Egg on top.
Keep the cupcakes cool until the frostings set. (I placed mine in the fridge for about 20 minutes)

We're off to See the Wizard

 

Tomorrow We are off to see the Wizard... and I can't wait!  
I have been looking forward to this for a long time.  The boys and I loved watching the show that led to Danielle winning the role of Dorothy and it is going to  
be fun to take the boys to live theatre production!

Good Friday! Good Fun!

Easter eggs, egg hunts, and good company!

We spent the day with the Browns, and
the boys had a great time taking part in all kinds of Easter fun!
 Griffin did a great job dying his eggs, and decorating them too!

 I think even the big kids had fun hiding the eggs and helping search for the eggs, 
including the eggs 6ft up in the trees (Jeff!)
 Monika and Alexander making their eggs pretty!

Happy Easter!



Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Follow by Email

Found a new gadget, and added it to my blog.  Add your email in the right side bar, if you would like to receive an email when my blog is updated!

Easter Pinterest Picks

Peep s'mores! Cute for Easter!
1/ Peep Smores... Yum!  This could be a great dessert for Easter dinner this year!

Easter gifts for the Young women!
2/ Love this idea... great for treating your friends!


Baby Bird Nest  Bring the outdoors inside by creating a cozy new home for these adorable pom-pom birds.  Make it: Cut a paper plate in half and staple the rims together (leaving the top of the "nest" open). After your kids paint it brown, help them glue shredded brown paper onto the front to add texture. Create the birds by gluing three blue pom-poms to the ends of Popsicle sticks.

3/  Cute craft for the little ones!

  

4/  Cute bunny cupcakes!
You can find the recipe here: 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Happy Birthday Griffin!




Birthday balloon avalanche :)  What you'll need:  -bedroom door that opens inward  -clear shower curtain (you could use anything but we chose the clear curtain so we could capture her face on video)  -painters tape  -75 balloons (we used the small ones and probably "over did it"... but she only turns 6 once, right?!)  -two out of breath parents  -one birthday girl/boy 

One of Griffin's favourite part of the day was waking up in 
the morning and opening his door to balloons falling all over him! 



His second favourite part of the day, was his dinner at Lonestar!
Griffin chose to go to Lone Star for his birthday dinner tonight!  I am pretty sure he just really wanted to wear the hat and ride the horse!  It was pretty cute watching him.

My 40th Surprise Birthday Party


My husband outdid himself!  He pulled off a surprise party on me which is no easy feat!
The only details I was given was that I was to be ready for 1pm.  We left, picked up our friends the Brookers and minutes later pulled into the parking lot at Lowes.  There I saw a bunch of my friends in their cars, and minutes later a Limo Bus pulled up beside us!

16 of my closest friends, a limo bus to an undisclosed locations... what could be more fun!

 If you have never been on a limo bus, this could have been the party!  It was so much fun just hanging out together in the bus, on a road trip.





 Two hours later we arrived at our first destination....
 Yorkdale Mall!  As everyone knows, shopping is one of my favourite things to do!  No better place than Yorkdale to shop with your closest friends. 
The girls hopped off the bus, and headed into the mall, and the guys left for Milestones to have a few drinks and wait for us!

After a few hours of shopping, we got back on the bus and were headed for the next surprise.... We stopped just outside of Medieval Times.  Tony and I had both mentioned on many occasions, that it would be a lot of fun to with a group of friends!

 Dinner was a lot of fun, too many funny moments to list... Brad lifting his shirt and heckling the green knight, and Carmela and her infamous comment!



The evening ended with a long bus ride home, some sleeping, some stumbling, silly dares, constant laughter... so much fun!  I couldn't have asked for a better 40th bash, or a better group of friends!  Thank you Lovie for making my day special!  Love you!

Phineas and Ferb Birthday Party

Griffin decided to have a Phineas and Ferb 6th birthday party! This theme was the perfect fit for him.  The show is about two brothers that are always creating and making and have a sister that tries to bust them every time but never does.  They also have a pet platypus that disappears and turns into Secret Agent P and tries to stop the evil Dr. Doofensmirtz from creating inators.

I loved this theme and the colours.  Thankfully Pinterest had lots of ideas for decorating and games.  I ran with the blue and yellow colours and purchased the matching plates, napkins, balloons, and gift buckets from partycity.ca

I created a Griffin banner, a balloon banner and used 
paper lanterns to decorate the dining area space.

Griffin really wanted a concession stand/candy bar.  
I created these paper cones  for the kids to fill at the "Popcorn Inator bar".  

 There were many toppings to choose from, 
but the gummy candies were the favourite topping.
 I made a Perry Platypus cake that Griffin loved!

 The kids had a fun spy bottle drink, with a magnifying glass attached that they could add to their bucket to take home at the end of the party

 The table setting included matching plates, napkins, twisty straws and disguise glasses the kids would wear while creating slime with Dr. Doofensmirtz


 Griffin mugging it up with his table favours

 We had many games planned for the party, but the favourite game was "Where is Perry Scavenger Hunt".  The kids took their buckets and searched for hidden eggs.  In four of the eggs was a clue as to where they could find Perry.  The rest of the eggs had a candy in them.  Once inside the kids opened their eggs, found the clues and found a Stuffed Perry sitting on Griffin's bed. 

The Perry Platypus stuffie was a birthday present for the birthday boy.


 We painted small wooden treasure boxes, and used orange fun foam, and wiggly eyes to create these cute Perry Platypus treasure boxes.  This was a favourite activity at the party.  The instructions can be found here: http://family.go.com/crafts/craft-1018966-agent-p-treasure-box-t/

 After lunch the kids created slime in the "slime inator" with Dr. Doofensmirtz 


 We also play "You're Busted" Balloon Pop.  The kids needed to bust all the balloons before they got busted by mom!



The best part of this party was the smile on Griffin's face, having a blast with his friends!
Happy Birthday to the best little guy I could ever have!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Happy Birthday to Me!!

40's not so bad right?
 

Disney Cruise

Disney really is Magic!  Our Disney cruise was fantastic from start to finish... well except for my sea sickness on the first day :)

We boarded the ship on Sunday, and explored the ship meeting a few friends along the way.  Goofy and Snow White stopped to say hello!

 Each evening we dined in a different restaurant while our servers moved along with us. Each restaurant was themed and didn't disappoint!  Not too mention, Mickey Ice Creams bars were on the menu.


 

 Our first stop was in Bahamas where we headed straight for Atlantis. The boys loved the water park, the water slides, lazy river, and aquariums.


 
On our third evening, we joined in on the Pirate fun but dressing up and heading to the pirate party and fire works!
 



 The highlight of the cruise for Owen was the swimming and Aqua Duck!  Owen and Tony must have rode this water roller coaster more than a dozen times.





 Although I did a lot of bribing I was able to get the boys to pose with all of the characters on the ship!  I even joined in the fun. 
Although Griffin wouldn't pose with Cinderella, 
Snow White had some fun by chasing him down to try to steal a kiss!
We also spent a day at Castaway Cay Island which is a Disney Island.  It was wonderful.  Lots of beach time, water slides, snorkeling, sand castle making and dancing with Mickey!

We love Disney!  I am certain this vacation will be a 
cherished memory for years to come!