Ok...really...this is my LAST Halloween post!

I don't know what everyone else does but in my family I always set up a big snack spread for pretty much every holiday...because I like snacks. Don't judge me.

Since Halloween is all about snacks...it's appropriate! Cue the Blackberry Bourbon Cupcakes!

 

These were actually really simple to make if you are into baking 

 

So the ones with the little squeeze tube skulls were the "adult only" alcoholic version and the ones with the sugar silhouette toppers were for the kids! You basically just make a basic white cake and fold in some diced up blackberries before you bake them. For the frosting I just did a basic white chocolate buttercream, takes like 5 minutes to make! Thennnnn for the little skull squeeze tubes, I just threw some blackberries in a saucepan and covered them in sugar. I added some bourbon and once the sugar dissolved and it turned into a syrup, I just strained out the blackberries and tah-dah!

These are the cupcakes and cookies the big kids made the night before! So cute!

 

 

How cute are these skull mason jars from Michael's?! 

 

These little pumpkin shaped chocolates from Trader Joe's were so good! I ate most of those myself! lol

 

I make these floats for the kids every year! Basically just organge or green sherbert and then you can pour sprite or orange crush over it and add gummy worms for fun!

So in case you didn't already know...my family is a circus and the little one tends to run the show so our Halloween costumes were perfect! My 9 yr old didn't want to participate in the family costume so he was a Halo character or something! lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, so that really was the last Halloween post, I know you are sad but the Turkey Day and Christmas posts are coming!! I'm also going to post a "Favorite Things" post soon since that was popular on my last blog! Feel free to throw suggestions my way! 

-xo-

Danielle 

Fall Mini Staycation

Hey guys!! Finally got around to posting this, better late than never!

The weekend before Halloween we headed up to Dallas! I had been looking around online for a cool pumpkin patch to take the kids to bc we were kind of bored with all of the ones around Houston.

I stumbled across the Dallas Arboretum and I booked a hotel moments later! They seriously have the most AMAZING pumpkin patch set up EVER! Not to mention the entire property is beautiful!

I was actually told the pumpkins were like down to about half the amount when we went bc the weather had been so hot, so next year I want to try to visit the first weekend it opens!

I think the cost for all 5 of us to get in was around $70 (Scarlett was free I think bc she is under age 2). They had food carts and restaurants on site and I saw some people bring picnics in as well which was pretty cute!

 

She was in heaven!

 

Scarlett & Daddy

 

It's super hard to get the big kids to pose for photos these days but I bribed them!

 

I was so excited about the cinderella carriage but she wanted nothing to do with it.

 

This picture of my girls is everythingggggg!

 

I took a bunch of pics bc this place is just perfect for photos, feel free to go in my Facebook page and check out the Fall 2016 album for more!

 

Of course, when in Dallas, you must go to In-N-Out Burger! They are still snubbing HTX but at least they are in Texas now! I think we are there 4 times on this trip! lol

 

Baby bird chasing big sis down for "bites"!

Of course since Sprinkles was like 2 blocks from our hotel, I had to hit that up too. Yes, we have one in Houston but it was RIGHT THERE. Who can pass up cupcakes?

 

and the Sprinkles Ice Cream shop was right around the corner too sooooo...

 

 

You guys, I seriously DIE for the Red Velvet ice cream at Sprinkles. Like, just build me a room in the back.

You can't go to Dallas without doing some shopping and since that's what I do best (apart from eating) we had to make it happen!

 

This is what she does when she wants me to pick her up. 

 

I was in Pottery Barn Kids so long Leila had to sit down. Oops.

 

We are always on the hunt for pumpkin photo ops! This was her telling me "No. No. Nice."

 

 

Halloween sock party in the hotel lol

It was a great little Fall mini trip, I definitely plan to do it again next year! I'm still a bit behind on posting but I will be doing one last Halloween post this week about our "Hallo-weekend"! Don't forget to check out my Fall 2016 album on facebook for more pics from Dallas!

I'm also going to start posting 2-3 times a week now so any post suggestions are welcome!! 

-xo-

Danielle

Little Monsters

If you know me, you know that I am Halloween OBSESSED! I get really into holidays in general but Halloween might be my favorite!

I always like to keep things super fun and festive for the kids so I try to plan fun things on the weekends when they aren't in school.

This year started off a bit rough bc of my lovely boob infection (#breastfeedingprobs) but I'm feeling much better now so I've been trying to cram everything in that I had planned before Halloween is over! Seriously, can October be a little longer?

Last weekend we took a little mini Fall trip to Dallas, I'll be doing a separate blog post on that but the weekend before (while I was still in the early stages of getting over the boob issue) we kept the fun at home!

On Saturday we did our annual pumpkin painting party! Loren was off on a hunting trip so it was just the kids and myself. We always carved pumpkins every year which was always a pain bc when you have young kids they have a hard time so you usually end up doing all the work. It's super messy, exhausting, and then your pumpkins turn to stinky mush a few days later. About 3 years ago I decided to try painting pumpkins instead and I was SOLD on it! The kids can do it without help, no stinky pumpkin guts or fruit flies, and the pumpkins last for weeks! 

 

We normally do it outside but it was still in the 90s here that weekend so I just set the kids up in the house. You can cover the floor with plastic and use a disposable table cloth and you are all good!

 

We started as it was getting dark so we incorporated glowsticks bc who doesn't love those? As far as the paint goes, I just go buy a bunch of acrylic paint at the craft store and a couple bags of assorted brushes.

 

Scarlett got in on the action too, I just gave her a brush with some water on the end.

 

On Sunday we did haunted gingerbread houses! The kids always love this bc they get to eat them afterwards! The gingerbread house kits were from Trader Joe's and I think they were only like $8 each.

 

Here is Leila's 

 

This is Ayden's 

 

Since Scarlett couldn't really partake in the gingerbread house decorating, she got to have a bath party!

 

To do this I just bought 2 packs of glow stick bracelets (each pack had 15 sticks). I bought non-toxic ones just in case they leaked for any reason and I'm careful not to let her chew on them (she does try lol) and other than that it's super easy and she loves it! 

I will be posting about our trip to Dallas in the next few days! If you have questions feel free to comment below! 

-xo-

Danielle 

It's Fall Ya'll!

My favorite season is here!! Although, here in Houston, Fall is just a state of mind bc it's still 100 degrees. lol

If you follow me on FB you know that I've been a bit under the weather, I'm still nursing my 18 month old and I started having extreme pain on one side that I thought was a plugged duct and kind of brushed it off and though it would go away if I did what I usually do when I get one. After 2 weeks, no luck so I saw a doc and was diagnosed with having Mastitis. I questioned if it really was bc I've had it before and this seemed different, the pain was worse but I never got a fever like I did before. I was treated with antibiotics and after 6 days there was no improvement so I was put on a different antibiotic. After 8 days on that I was still in severe pain and found out that it most likely wasn't even mastitis to begin with but a different type of infection. So anyway I started a new prescription now that seems to be helping after 5 weeks of being in pain 24/7!

So anyway with all of that going on I haven't been as festive this year, I've been stuck on my couch with a heating pad or an ice pack trying to move as little as possible. I have been keeping most of our Fall festivities at home for that reason. Whomp whomp whhooommmp. 

Here are a few pumpkin pics from grocery stores bc that's pretty much the only place I've been since all of this started! We will get out to a real pumpkin patch soon!

 

First pumpkin pic of the year at Sprouts!

 

Next we went to Whole Foods where sitting on a pumpkin seemed like a good idea to Scarlett!

 

Here was another trip to Whole Foods!

 

Actually talked all 3 of my kids into a group pic! Anndddd they all smiled! #ParentingWin

 

and of course we couldn't leave out this one from Trader Joe's!

I will be doing a few Halloween posts ASAP! We spent this past weekend painting pumpkins and making haunted gingerbread houses! Post coming soon! 

-xo-

Danielle

Skinny Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Skinny Spinach Lasagna Rolls

This has been one of my fave go-to recipes forEVER! It's super easy and fast if you use a good quality jarred sauce but sometimes I make my own sauce from scratch, just depends on how much time you have! 

Ingredients: 

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked 
• 15 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• salt and pepper
• 1 jar of marinara sauce 
• 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Lay out lasagna noodles and make sure the noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.