Pebbles and Piggy Tails

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HEAVENLY MORSELS: The easiest cookie you’ll ever make

It’s holiday cookie time!  I’m sharing with you one of my family’s favorite Christmas cookies.  They are called HEAVENLY MORSELS.  It’s a vintage recipe from my Granny. We make them every year, not just because they are scrumptious and chewy, but because they are sooooo simple.  

These cookies take only 3 ingredients.  THREE!  The holidays are busy enough.   

My Granny used to make these cookies.  Then My Mama made them every Christmas.  Now I make them too.  (I’m so glad Granny didn’t pass down a complicated recipe–KUDOS to Granny!).

Here is what you need:  

1 pkg of chocolate chips

 16 whole graham crackers

 1 can sweetened condensed milk

 Crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs.

I put mine in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin.

Mix sweetened milk and the chocolate chips in a bowl.
When chocolate chips are coated, add the crumbs.
(I didn’t show this exactly . . . I wanted you to see all 3 ingredients together.  So make sure you mix the first two before the crumbs are added).  I mix it all by hand with a spoon.

Other resources:
The Best Types of Flowers to Gift on a Birthday
How to Surprise Someone with Birthday Flowers at Work

Indoor Snowball Fight Ideas

I love snow.  Well, I love snow until about February, because after that it’s just dirty and hard and cold.  But the fresh snow of December is heaven.  Remember my summer snowball game from our simple Frozen Birthday Party? Well, I realized it makes a great indoor snowball game as well.  Perfect for holiday games or Christmas decorations as well as just a fun winter blues buster!  So I was feeling crafty and decided to make some FREE Snowball Fight Printables and show you what I did for my Indoor Snowball Fight Kit (plus some other ideas if you don’t have time to make it).

And yes, in case you are wondering I have actually had an indoor snowball fight with my kidlets and these fun little puff balls.  It happened randomly one day after school.  We were running all around throwing these snowballs.  We were giggling all over the place and not a single decoration or child (or mama) was hurt in the process.  I highly recommend a good, random snowball fight every so often. Click here to read about Caramel Apple Kit.

FREE printable Indoor Snowball Fight Tags.  Click the link for more designs.

Christmas Kindness Elves

I swore I would never ever do any kind of Elf on the Shelf thing.  I thought it was ridiculous that we had to add another “store-created” Christmas tradition just because it was trendy.  My Baby Girl began to wonder why she was the only kid who wasn’t visited by a skinny elf during the holidays.  I told her it’s because she was already trying to be a good girl (she really does try hard), and I didn’t like how the elf came to check on you and remind you to be good, and then did naughty things himself.  BUT this year I found on The Imagination Tree that there is an alternative.  They are Kindness Elves and I decided to try it.

Kindness Elves are an alternative to the regular Elf on the Shelf.  They encourage kind acts of service and love.  The bring in the Christmas spirit.  In many ways they are like the Elf on the Shelf.  They still sneak around your house while you sleep and each morning you find them in a different place.  They also suggest a way for our family to be kind or help someone that day.

This is our letter from the Kindness Elves.  The letter reminds my kids that Santa knows they are trying their best to be good. 

Update!  This year our kindness elf came with these cute cards attached to her!  You can print them for free below!

Other resources:
The Best Types of Flowers to Gift on a Birthday
How to Surprise Someone with Birthday Flowers at Work

Sugar Popcorn Treat (Quick & Cheap)

Oh, I have got the BEST recipe for you today.  It’s low-cost.  It’s colorful.  It’s fun.  It’s easy.  Sugar Popcorn is the perfect treat or snack for a big party or crowd.  You can make a lot quickly and hardly spend anything.  Think of it for church groups, birthday parties, school ideas, etc.

This popcorn has a very sweet, sugary flavor.  It’s very basic and simple. Click here to read about Indoor Snowball Fight Ideas.

This recipe is actually from My Mama.  She used to make this for me when I needed to bring a GREEN food to school on St. Patrick’s Day.  She could whip it up in minutes and have enough for my whole class.

My Little Son calls it “Painted Popcorn”

These are the ingredients you need (exact amounts below):

Easy Halloween Minute-to-Win-It Party (plus printables)

This past week my Little Son had a birthday party.  He wanted just a few friends for a simple Halloween Minute-to-Win-It party.  I’m glad he wanted simple because I knew with My Man’s busy medical schedule there was a high chance I would be doing it single-parent-style.  I only do friend parties every other year (like Baby Girl’s FROZEN party in May).  Mostly because they do take time and money and some years I just don’t want to worry about that.  But this year the birthday party was easy and affordable.  I used Dollar Tree like crazy and my own computer to make the printable invites, thank you cards, and more.  Plus, I’ve added the FREE Halloween Party PRINTABLES I made for you at the bottom of this post.  

DECORATIONS

Like I said, I used Dollar Tree for a lot of the decor and games.  Here’s what we decorated with. click here to read about Sugar Popcorn Treat (Quick & Cheap)

Again, Dollar Tree for the eyeballs and candy containers.  For water bottles I peeled off the label and just put a sticker instead of finding a printable label like everyone is doing these days (though in my opinion you really can just leave the regular label on, but I wanted you to see this idea).  AND yes, those are cheeseballs.  Before you scorn me for the junk food on this table, I must tell you that we never ever get cheeseballs and that is why Little Son wanted them so much for his party (a special treat!)

Caramel Apple Kit

A couple of years ago, on a rainy autumn day, my friend Alison brought our family a sweet surprise.  It was Caramel Apple Kit.  It was the perfect thing to liven up a dull rainy day.  Our kidlets enjoyed making apples with Mom and Dad, and I loved that I didn’t have to prep anything or remember to get the stuff at the store.  It was a ready-made family activity.

So today I’m passing Alison’s idea onto you.  I made my own this year for two women in my church family that I check on and visit from time to time.  It was a rainy day.  We had fresh apples from a local farm.  And this really wasn’t hard to put together. Click here to read about Simple FROZEN Birthday Party Ideas.

 I used stuff I already had.  Scrapbook paper leftovers, paper sacks, ribbon.  Cut, glue, tie.  DONE.

I’m a Mormon . . . please let me explain

I’m a Mormon . . . please let me explain

I realized recently that with as much that I share on this blog, I often do not share the most important part of my life.  It’s the part that makes up who I am to the very core of my soul.  It’s a very special part of me.  So today I’ve decided to share this part of me, realizing I may risk losing some of you.  Though I hope I don’t.  I hope you’ll accept me for who I am, as I accept you.  Will you be open to what I have to say and appreciate my honesty?  As a blogger, I am vulnerable to my reader.  I share and put myself out there, not usually knowing if anyone cares or even likes what I have to say.  I open myself up to praise or ridicule–sometimes never knowing which I receive.  But I hope you’ll at least listen for a moment. Click here to read about Easy Halloween Minute-to-Win-It Party (plus printables)

I am a Mormon.  Have you heard of Mormons?  It means I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Another name for us is LDS or Latter-day Saint.  But Mormon is a common nickname, even though it’s not the name of our church.  Being a Mormon, or being LDS, means that I believe in Jesus Christ.  I believe He is my Savior.  I believe in God also.  I think of Him as my Heavenly Father.  I believe they created this earth–the stars, the sunsets, the flowers, the oceans and all the beautiful things upon it, including people.  I believe God watches over me and that Jesus died for me.  I believe God put us here on earth for a purpose.  We are children of God and He is always watching over us.

Being Mormon means I also believe that families are eternal.  Our families can be forever.  When someone dies, it is not the end, and we will see that person again.  Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us  and we are never alone.  God wants us to be happy.  He wants us to learn and make choices.  He wants us to do good, keep His commandments, and help other people.

Being a Mormon means I believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth again. I believe Joseph Smith helped bring about this restoration and that he was a prophet, like the prophets of old in the Bible.  Many think that God does not speak to us on earth.  But He does.  There is a modern day prophet who helps guide us through all these hard, confusing times.  And each person can know these things for themselves.  Heavenly Father helps those who seek truth.  He loves each one of us.  Each soul is precious in the eyes of God.

As a Mormon I read the scriptures.  I love the Bible and also The Book of Mormon.  I read the scriptures every morning with my husband and children.  I read them on my own too, as often as possible.  The scriptures help me learn, they also bring me peace and understanding to problems in my life.  I pray often as well–actually everyday.  I pray alone.  I pray with my husband.  I pray with my children.  Everyday.  I know God listens to our sincere prayers.  I know He answers too.

I believe in goodness.  I believe in pure happiness.  My life is not perfect.  I’m a freckle-faced girl and dumb things happen to me everyday–sometimes even hard or painful things.  But I think I can truly say that for the most part I am happy.  I have found peace by living as I do.