Halloween Cookies

My husband is in love with Halloween. It is one of his favorite holidays, and he likes everything about it. I, on the other hand, grew up not celebrating this day at all. We never went trick or treating, never dressed up, or recognized the day.

We have come to the agreement that our future children will be celebrating Halloween, as long as any decor is "friendly." None of this bloody skulls or axe murderer stuff. I want smiling, jolly pumpkins and ghosts. I'm thinking cute little Casper here people. Although it wasn't his favorite response, it's better than nothing.

So after school this week, he really wanted to make some Halloween cookies, since I had bought him a cookie cutter set, since I felt bad he couldn't decorate our house in the way he would have liked... We ended up making a snickerdoodle recipe (really it was a sugar cookie dough that we added a lot of cinnamon too... results were delicious.)

Then we dyed some icing. The dark green was meant to be black, but do you know how difficult it can be to achieve black icing from food coloring? Well, it's difficult. Some of them came out really quite adorable, while others... not so much.

The pumpkins were my favorite! As well as his striped cat and ghosts. I think they really came out cute. The bats and spiders weren't too bad either with the purple (although I'm pretending that the spider is a weird spaceship since I'm deathly afraid of spiders). Overall, it got him in the Halloween spirit, without getting our house covered in creepy decorations. Plus the cookies are scrumptious! This is a win!

Pumpkin Carving!

 On my husband's birthday, as one of his gifts, he was given a pumpkin carving set. He got to spend some time doing one of his favorite holiday traditions!

 Although his design was little more abstract than one may have liked, it turned out great! It is Harry Potter themed (a true love that we both share).

If you are a true Potter aficionado, then you will understand all the symbols, but otherwise, just enjoy the artistry of his pumpkin!

 All lit up! Our cats were very intrigued....

Red-Pepper Risotto

After a grueling day in the fifth grade, and a boring training after school, I came home in a horrible mood. I had some "moping time" and then decided that we need a good dinner. On Pinterest, I found a recipe for Red-Pepper Risotto, and what a success it turned out to be! It was pretty easy too. Cook the rice, adding vegetable broth in small increments, until all the water was absorbed. Add corn, green onions, roasted red peppers, and Monterrey-jack cheese with peppers in it (at our grocery store, it was packaged as hot-pepper cheese). Your favorite wine to accompany the meal, and voila! We ate it with toasted sun-dried tomato tortillas, and it was delicious! Adding this to the YES pile.

Birthday Surprises

For my husband's birthday, I decided to give him small gifts throughout the day, and then a main gift at the end of the day. It was fun to pick out what I knew he would like, and wrap them all...

I chose very small, cheap items, so that way I could still get him a larger item (he gets to pick out a new TV!). He LOVES Halloween, so most of the treats are Halloween themed... Daniel's present list included:

• Halloween Socks
• Headphones (he ALWAYS breaks his)
• Gum (chews constantly...)
• Candy (which I will enjoy too!!)
• His favorite type of t-shirt
• Sharpies (he's an artist and could use them)
• A pumpkin carving set (which he carved his pumpkin during the day... pics to come soon!)

I was able to get everything from Target (a lot in the $1 section!) I put all of the treats in a box together, and sporadically throughout the day I let him open one. We took the day off to enjoy the gorgeous weather, and relax. It was a fun day! I also typed up a "Menu" that was on top of the presents. He got to choose breakfast (our favorite bagel shop and Starbucks...of course...) and lunch (an awesome burger place that just opened near us...) options. Dinner was with his family. It was a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday!

Station Mania!

In my classroom, I have "stations" that my kids rotate through each week (pictures to come... our laminator usually has a long line...and I don't like to wait... so some of my stations are in disrepair). Every station is work I normally would want them to do (such as creative writing, a history assignment, questions about the novel we are reading, etc...), but would have a hard time motivating them to get everything accomplished if they had to work independently at their desk. There is something about getting to sit in a small group and chat that gets these ten year olds to work harder. And bingo, I've discovered a fabulous teacher trick.

Giving them permission to even WHISPER to their neighbor, and they will work for you. The kids in their group don't even have to be their friends, but my students just can't wait to be allowed to talk while they work. But, aren't adults the same way? Don't we love to talk to people in meetings, trainings, even at the grocery store? So why is it that we expect our children to sit quietly and work, when we can't even do it? I say stop fighting a losing battle, and let them visit!

Spread the Love

My sister hasn't been feeling well lately, and so I decided to make her a little treat to cheer her up, along with her good friend and coworker. I found a cute idea for a different twist on a trail mix, so I picked out some of my favorite snack foods, tossed in a bowl, and voila! How easy is that? My husband and I had some too, and it is the perfect combination of salty and sweet to please your taste buds.

This can be made in any way you like, but for an autumn look, I chose a base of cheez-its and waffle pretzels (they are good for scooping up the smaller items). To add just a touch more salt, I threw in some peanuts because I love all kinds of nuts, but peanuts were the cheapest. Now for something sweet!! I used peanut butter M&Ms in the fall colors, milk chocolate chips (none of this semi-sweet business... go for the milk), and the autumn mix candy corn (the one with the little pumpkins too).

 One of our cats, Boots, wanted to get in on the action too! He "helped" by knocking the cheez-its on the ground. Our other cat, Ellie, was jealous, so pawed the pretzels off the table... thanks guys.

For the final touches, I found some cute plastic Chinese take-out boxes for $0.99 at Michaels. For future reference, they have really cute ones in patterns and colors, but I decided to go simple with the white. Add an orange fall ribbon to give it that festive flair, and there you go! A simple gift that will let someone know you care, and spread some cheer! Be on the lookout for a holiday snack mix featuring red and green!

Reading Station

I teach 5th grade Language Arts and Social Studies. Even though we are almost through the first quarter, I finally got around to taking picture of my classroom, and wanted to share! My students are very tiring this year (imagine that!) being 10 years old, and I'm already worn out... but we are creative everyday and get to learn so much from each other!

Saturday Seasoning

My husband and I tried three new recipes today, two winners and a flop. It was the Red River Rivalry game, UT vs. OU, and although our beloved Longhorns had a rough game, we had success in our kitchen...

Cinnamon glazed scones....

Delicious! A little crumbly, so next time we are going to make a few adjustments, but they were light and airy. Our moms would be proud. For the glaze, the recipe called for vanilla extract, but we substituted almond extract, with scrumptious results!

Our other success was Ravioli Vegetable Soup. Tasted like Minestrone, and was really good. This is definitely on the "to make again" list, but we would use tortellini instead of Ravioli because it is smaller, and easier to eat with soup.

For game day, we tried queso blanco... this was our flop... but I will document it anyway. Lessons to learn from. The idea was great, but the execution just wasn't there. I'm sure it is something I did wrong... maybe I won't toss this recipe quite yet....

 White Cheddar and Monterrey Jack Cheeses, to be shredded. Roma tomatoes chopped... we omitted the cilantro because I hate it...

Chopped jalapeno and white onions...

 Saute until soft...

Add cheese, tomatoes, and cream... this is where it went badly for us... the cream and cheese didn't seem to melt together well enough to combine. Looks like it should have worked, but for now, this will remain in the "NO" pile.

Autumn Arrives

I love fall. Everything that comes with it. Cooler weather, warm colors, changing leaves, apple cider, pumpkin decorations. Don't get me wrong, I know that living in southern Texas for 20 years has given me a diluted vision of fall, and that to truly appreciate all this season has to offer, I really need to be in the north... However, I still love it all the same. Although the high today was 91, and our immense drought has caused us to loose any hope of even a slight change in leaf color, I still am feeling in the fall spirit. My husband and I went on one of our regular trips to Michaels (he is an artist, and actually enjoys going as much as I do!). After blindly wandering the store for 15 minutes, without a clue where to begin, I finally formulated an idea, and was able to fill a basket with all the supplies to attempt making my first wreath.

I started with a few packages of leaves, some ribbon, some plastic pumpkins, and a cardboard frame.

I started with making a floral bow, by looping some ribbon, and securing with a small piece of wire (I didn't have any wire, so I used an unfolded paper clip).

Next, glue gun heaven. Start placing leaves, and pumpkins around the ribbon...

Then just keep going, until... presto! I made my first wreath. I was so proud! Looks great on our front door.

My first attempt at a crafty project ended up coming out great, and I can't wait until Christmastime when I can make a new wreath.

Love. Laugh. Live

Welcome to my blog! I am new at this so please be patient as I learn....


Being a newlywed brings a cornucopia of new challenges to face, in the world of domesticated work. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, decorating... all tasks that I seemingly knew how to do in the past, but in the back of my mind, I always knew my mom was there to get me out of any snafu that might arise. Now that I'm married and have my own home, I've been tapping into the domestic roots that were planted throughout my childhood. With the discovery of the website Pinterest, I often get the chance to delve into the right side of my brain and start feeling crafty. Saturday mornings I like to get up early, lay on the couch with my favorite cup of coffee, and watch the sunrise with my cats. This is the ideal time to let my creative mind tick, and formulate plans of what recipes I want to try, or a craft that will almost undoubtedly require a trip to Michaels.


Today, I actually moved forward on some ideas that had been festering for a few weeks. My husband, Daniel, and I attempted several recipes this morning, after a trip to the grocery store. Then, after witnessing our poor Longhorns' (Hook 'em) get bowled over by OU, we set out on a craft expedition. The next few posts will be the results of our endeavors, some successful, with a sprinkling of failures...