Surprise Visit

Yesterday I woke up to a text from Joni over at Six Cherries saying she was going to come visit me! What a wonderful surprise because Monday was a super rough day and I was thrilled to have her come over because it has literally been months since we got together...which totally sucks because we live 30 minutes apart. Life keeps us so busy and days turn into months, which doesn't need to happen anymore. We must make time for each other!

We seriously had such a fun time! Joni came loaded with goodies...she said guess what? Today we are baking cookies! And we did and it was FUN.We baked four batches of all kinds of homemade goodies and they were amazing. 

We chatted while the kids played and when we were done baking Elijah and Gracie each were able to make their own snowglobe. They enjoyed it SO much. Gracie carried it around all night and talked about how much she missed Elijah...She even kissed him on the cheek..Her dad would flip if he knew.

Tonight we will have another fun time because we are going to a HUGE church festival in Raleigh. We are all so excited. Pictures to come tomorrow! For now enjoy the ones from yesterday. 

Cooking with Mommy

The other night me and Gracie decided to make Oreo Balls. I have seen them ALL over Pinterest and honestly I knew it was a done deal when I saw them and I had to make them. Although this is a super easy snack to make it is a very messy task let me tell ya... The only ingredients you need are 1 package of Oreos, One 8 oz. tub of soft cream cheese, and Semi Sweet Hershey's Chocolate chips.

The first thing we did was crush up our Oreos in a ziploc bag. We had SO much fun doing this. You crush them until they are the consistency of dirt. After you do that you put the Oreos in a bowl and mix in the Cream Cheese with your hands....this is the start of the messiness.

But hey?! That's the fun in cooking and making memories right? After we mixed up the Oreos and Cream cheese good, we put our Hershey's chips in a bowl and melted them in the microwave. The next step was to dip our balls of oreos and cream cheese into the melted chocolate and place them in the fridge to sit over night and harden. 

Of course before we did that we had to have some fun and eat some yummy melted chocolate!

Isn't it funny how different my kids are!? Gracie is HIGH on chocolate and Gabriel is thinking....why in the world did I eat that...

The next morning our Oreo Balls were not beautiful BUT they were made with love and we had a blast!! Also they were SOOOOO good. I do know that next time we make some of these tasty treats I will let the balls sit in the fridge and harden some on their own before I dip them in chocolate, I think this will help with the 5 hour clean up afterwards :-)

Today is the last day to enter the Ink & Astor Giveaway! Go HERE if you haven't entered yet! :-)

My To Do List for Thanksgiving

I don't know about you but I am in shock Thanksgiving is this week...like for real. I have said it before and I will say it again...This year has flown. I honestly hope the years ahead don't go this fast but I have been told by my elders they just get faster....I am not ready for that.

Moving on to something more cheerful. What are you guys making for Thanksgiving? Do you cook a huge feast for everyone or do the family members chip in and each person bring a few dishes? In my family, we go to my Grandparents house around noon and have our Thanksgiving lunch. My grandma has ALWAYS made everything and everyone just comes and eats. The older I get the more I have no clue how she does it...that is ALOT of cooking. This year for her house I am taking a dessert. I have decided to make the yummy reeses/cookie dough brownie. I am super excited because I KNOW it is going to be amazing! :-)

YUM

When we leave my grandparents we then go to my Mom's along with my Grandad and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Since my grandmother passed when I was a child everyone brings several dishes each year. This year I am bringing pigs in a blanket and biscuits. Two things I LOVE! I love thanksgiving because it is all about having fun, eating, and spending time with family. I so much enjoy spending time with my family and wish we ALL got to get together more. 

I have made it a tradition for about 9 years now to go the dreadful Black Friday shopping but honestly this year I do not think I will be going. This could VERY well change but at this time I do not want to go...it is a hassle and it makes me tired. I also don't feel like dealing with people who are fighting over toys or gifts to save a few dollars. Trust me, I WANT and NEED to save the few dollars but is my small amount of sanity worth losing? I think not...

We will see though.. 

Will you be going Black Friday shopping in the comfort of your home and ordering offline or will you fight the madness and get out in the mayhem?!

Happy Tuesday!!