Lessons of Motherhood Learned in the Kitchen: The Melted Snowman Cookie Tale

To shake up summer, we've been doing some fun Christmas in July themed activities. The boys helped me bake these fun melted snowman cookies yesterday. They are pretty easy to make. The boys had a blast, and I learned a wonderful lesson along the way. 

In our Pinterest/Instagram inspired world, it's easy to get caught up in the beauty of wanting things to look perfect. When it came time to decorate our snowmen, I found myself taking over. "Let me try the first one," quickly turned into five cookies. I immediately put my piping bag down. What was I doing? I wanted my boys to have fun and love baking with me, and I had quickly began to take over so things would look "just like I wanted them to look." I took a seat and told Cooper to start decorating. He quickly got into melting the marshmallows and piping the icing. Judson came over and jumped right in too. I sat back and watched as they were enjoying decorating the cookies. I loved watching Judson's cute face as he concentrated while placing the eyes, nose, and mouth just so. I loved seeing their faces light up in delight with their finished creations. I loved hearing the stories about each cookie. Jack explained that the green sprinkles represented the grass that the snowman was standing on as he was melting in the sun. "Brilliant!" I'm so proud that he was using his imagination and creativity to come up with his own back story to the entire "melting snowman"saga. Something that I hadn't even thought of. I was making each cookie the exact same way! As I sat back and watched, I was captivated with the beauty of motherhood. Watching my babies using their hands, problem solving, and finishing a project without me stepping in to help at every turn. It was pure JOY for me to witness. I would have missed it all if I would not have stopped myself from taking over, and forcing myself to put the piping bag down.

Cooper at one point commented that his snowman wasn't going to turn out right. I was able to encourage him to continue on and that his new finished product may turn out better than he originally planned. I talked to him about all the inventions that have occurred because of a happy accident, when something turned out differently than originally planned. The first practical implantable pacemaker, the microwave oven, penicillin, the ink jet printer, x ray images, post-it notes, potato chips, Coca Cola, and chocolate chip cookies, to name a few.  These inventions have either changed how we do things, had a big impact on life, or are just delicious; all thanks to happy accidents. 

These special moments came from something as simple as decorating a cookie. I'm amazed at how much I took in just by watching, and what I was able to share with their little hearts, just simply practicing the ministry of presence and enjoy being their mom. I learned a valuable lesson in my kitchen yesterday, sometimes it's best to step out of the way and watch the beauty unfold rather than charging ahead trying to make things turn out just the way you want them to. I love that valuable life lessons are waiting for us everywhere, particularly when we quiet our hearts and our minds to simply enjoy the moments. So, really the bottom line is to just have fun with my boys with no agendas! 

For the Melted Snowman Cookies I used my favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe (for cookie cutters). This recipe is what I've been using since I was a little girl.

Sugar Cookie (Cookie Cutter)

3/4 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla or 1/2 tsp lemon extract

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Blend shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and then add flour, baking powder, and salt. Chill at least 1 hour. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Ungreased baking sheet for 5 minutes.

 You want a decent size circle cookie cutter. My was a little over 2 inches in diameter which was a little small so we rolled the dough thicker and cut the circles. Then we took a rolling pin and rolled them to create appoximately a 2.5 inch cookie.

You could use any icing recipe. A thicker icing turns out better so it doesn't run off the cookie.

 Icing Recipe:
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

After mixed, place in a piping bag or zip lock bag and cut the tip off to pipe a melted look with the icing.

 Decorating Ingredients:

Large Marshmallows
M&M's (regular or mini)
gel or icing pens

Microwave each large marshmallow for 5 seconds (it works best to microwave one marshmallow at a time). Place on top of cookie. Pipe eyes, mouth, nose, arms, scarves, etc. You can use regular or mini M&M's for the buttons. To give a melted look don't line the M&M's up perfectly.

Felt Ball Garland

July is the perfect time to start or complete any unfinished projects you have started for Christmas.  I started this felt ball garland over a year ago, after eyeing some adorable garlands on Etsy and thought I could make it myself for a fraction of the cost.  I hit up Hobby Lobby and bought this 100% wool roving (found in the aisle with yarn). At $1.59-$1.79 a package you can have an economical garland done in no time (I only needed three packages)! I selected a green, red, and white/cream package to create a fun Christmas garland. After setting almost complete for over a year, Christmas in July was the perfect time to wrap this project up and now it will be ready to go come Christmas!

To start, stretch the wool piece out and begin to eye how big you want each ball, keep in mind that the wool will shrink as it gets wet with water and you roll it. I got 9-10 balls from each package of wool.

After you cut a square piece you need two cups with warm water. To one cup,  add a couple drops of dish soap and the other have just water. Submerge the first square in the water with a small amount of soap.

After you remove from the water begin to form a round shape.

Then begin rolling the ball around in your hands. It will take a few minutes for each ball to take shape. Every so often dip ball in the cup with warm water only. This helps to shrink the ball as you roll it. Then return to rolling the ball between your hands.

After your ball is solid and you like the shape and size, place on a paper towel to dry. It takes a good 24 hours for felt balls to dry.

After your 24 hours of dry time. Take embroidery floss and a large needle (I used an upholstery needle). Decide the color pattern you would like for your garland (white, red, green, etc). Thread the needle and go through the middle of each felt ball to string on the garland. Space out the felt balls to your desired length. When you have them all on the garland, tie a knot in the embroidery floss so the end balls do not come off. Then cut the string at the desired length (leaving room on the end for hanging, etc). You can use the garland many ways.

That's a wrap! I can't wait to decorate with my felt ball garland this Christmas. What projects are you excited to start/finish for Christmas?

Five Things Friday

Happy Friday! This week has flown by. I'm trying to soak up every little bit of summer that I can. All things back to school are right around the corner, and I'm trying to ignore most of it! Five things from me on this Friday coming at you!

one. VBS was this week, and boy was it a "wild week!" Chris, Max, and I served in the 6th grade track where they do a service project in the community. We spent our week planting a garden in the community gardens, pulling weeds in a park (huge weeds as tall as our 6th graders), learning about Jesus, and making new friendships. I was so proud of how hard these kids worked, and in the heat! They were awesome! We had a big goal of raising $10,000 to dig a well in Haiti for the school our church supports, Fellowship School of Hope. The kids brought in money all week and blew our goal out of the water, bringing in over $15,000.

two. Target finds. It was camo night at VBS the other day and my boys had no camo. I know, I'm not sure how this happened. I did some quick online browsing and discovered Target had these awesome Cat and Jack camo t-shirts on sale for $4.00. We jumped in the van and b-lined it for Target. Unfortunately, they were out of camo shirts in my size, but I picked up these Universal Thread utility shorts in olive for $12.00! Let me just tell you these shorts are awesome! They are made out of 100% lyocell fabric, which feels soft like silk. They are so comfortable, which is vital for mom life. I must say I'm also impressed with how well look after being washed. Run to Target and get a pair while they are on sale!  I noticed a lot of Target's summer clothing is on sale, perfect for picking up some great back to school items for the kids (or yourself, wink wink)!

Three.  We hit the pool yesterday. If you want a healthy pool snack, try this! I cut up a watermelon and put it in a container in the freezer for several hours before we headed to the pool. It was such a hot day, the ice cold watermelon was a refreshing pool treat!

four. Get in those pictures! Just a friendly reminder to make sure to get in front of the camera too. It's easy to always be the one taking the pictures, and if you are anything like me we want to document everything. Someday, I want my kids to remember that I was a part of the fun too!

five. Christmas in July. I have some fun ideas coming your way for Christmas in July next week!  Check back in for a DIY project, fun activities to do with your kids, and a fun dessert idea for cooking with kids in the kitchen!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Hand Stirred Milkshakes

A favorite sweet treat at our house is a hand stirred milkshake. We have been making these simple and easy shakes for years! The beauty of these milkshakes is you can make them to each persons preference. You only need two ingredients, ice cream and milk!  If you want to jazz it up a bit, you can add additional toppings. No fancy kitchen gadgets are needed, just a trusty spoon and some good ole muscle action, hand churning the ice-cream. In no time flat you will have a creamy shake! 

One afternoon, I surprised my boys with a more involved hand stirred milkshake. They were in milkshake dream land after this dressed up version! I even found heart shaped giant marshmallows to make it a little extra special.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream (any flavor)

Milk

Optional Ingredients:

Marshmallow Fluff

Whip Cream

Fruit

Sprinkles

Mini Donuts

Crushed Cookies

Directions:

Place desired amount of ice-cream in a glass or mason jar.

Pour milk in glass (you can decide how thick or thin you want the consistency). The more milk you pour into the glass, the thinner the shake will be. Keep this in mind if you would like to use a spoon, you don't want it too thin.

Start stirring, immediately (if you wait too long to start stirring small ice cream balls form in the shake. We don't like those, so I pour and immediately start stirring)!

If you aren't adding any additional toppings you are done! Enjoy!

If you would like the marshmallow fluff on the rim of your milkshake glass. Take marshmallow fluff and place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 15-30 seconds. Continue to heat in short increments until the fluff is a melted.

Dip jar in warm, gooey fluff and add desired sprinkles while its still warm. As soon as the fluff is cooled, sprinkles will no longer stick.

Pour your milkshake into the marshmallow dipped jar and add any additional toppings (whip cream, mini donut, marshmallows, cookie dough, etc). The sky really is the limit! Have fun coming up with new versions and flavors of milkshakes.  For an added element take suggestion on what each milkshakes should be named, and vote to get the winning name. This one ended up with the name Unicorn Shake.

Kitchen Organization. The Spice Cabinet.

"A place for everything and everything in its place." I would love for this famous quote to be true for  my home. I've set out on a mission, to organize my home in 2019. For every thing that is loved, important, or useful to have a place; and when you go to that place the item is actually there. Novel idea, I know! I'm sure you are thinking, "Kate, that's crazy. You have five kids! How will you ever have an organized home?" I didn't say this was going to be an easy mission. But, one I've chosen to tackle and I'm brining those five boys along for the ride.

I started back in January, and I'm prepared that this mission is going to take some time. I'm breaking the process into small pieces making them easier to tackle. I've found the reward of small, complete, and organized spaces brings instant gratification and a desire to keep going. I'm talking as small as one drawer or cabinet at a time. Nothing overwhelming, but the job is getting done.

When I got to the spice cabinet, I didn't realize how out of control it had become until I finished this space. The difference is astounding. Looking at the before picture stresses me out. The after picture makes me feel calm! Who knew a cabinet could make you feel these things?!?

I started by ordering these spice jars when they were on sale at Target.com. I also purchased a Dymo label maker (punch version) that was only $9.99. I know I'll get more use out of it as my home organization project continues. And side note, my kids were jumping at the chance to help me so they could use it!

Amazon also has a lot of great spice jar options as well. Many sets even came with spice labels.  I love the copper lids of these Target spice jars and after much research, I decided that this was the look I was going for!

I washed the jars in the dishwasher before transferring all my spices. I went through all my spices and was amazed at how many were expired. I honestly, never thought about spices having expiration dates! Thankfully, most of the expired spices I never use (one expired in 2007! The year my first son was born. He's eleven. Yikes)! I threw all of those away and got to work. I don't have a funnel, and I looked into purchasing one, but I was surprised that many funnels come in sets of 3. I just don't need that many, I don't want to store that many, and due to the price thought that I could figure something out since it's not a gadget I will use very often. I took a small piece of paper, twisted it, and it worked perfectly and I didn't have to spend any money on it!

My kids were home from school, due to the weather, and they enjoyed helping me with the labeling and putting the lids on the jars (these jars also come with the plastic cover with holes for shaking). At one point I told the boys we may need to give the jars a little more dry time before we proceeded and they said, "No! This is so much fun!" My 3rd grade son loved using the label maker. It brought me great joy that he was having so much fun, and he was working on spelling at the same time!

These white baskets are from Target! I love that all I have to do is grab the baking basket and all the essentials are in one place (vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, etc). It's all nicely contained and I'm not looking all over the shelf for the vanilla, it's in it's place. That's really the goal I've made for myself for this organizational journey. Creating a happy home where everything has a place.

I've lived with this cabinet complete for several days now. Cooking is more fun and efficient. The newness still hasn't warn off, and I may or may not open the cabinet every time I walk by to get a peek. I can't wait to tackle my next space. Food pantry, I'm coming for you!

What's you favorite organized space in your home?